MOSCOW, Feb 27 — Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko called on Kyiv today to sit down and hold talks with Russia so that Ukraine does not lose its statehood, Russia’s RIA news agency reported.

Russia said today its delegation was ready to meet Ukrainian counterparts in the Belarusian city of Gomel, but Kyiv said Belarus was complicit in the Russian invasion and could not be regarded as a neutral intermediary. — Reuters