A fourth round of talks between Ukraine and Russia will continue on March 15 after a “technical pause,” one of the negotiators for Ukraine said as the two sides work to negotiate an end to Moscow’s unprovoked invasion.

Mykhaylo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the pause was to allow for “additional work in the working subgroups and clarification of individual definitions.”

Podolyak said ahead of the talks that he expected a “difficult discussion” on reaching a cease-fire, immediate troop pullout, and security guarantees.

Live Briefing: Russia Invades Ukraine

 

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The discussions, which are being held via video link after three previous in-person meetings, come as Russia intensifies strikes across Ukraine.

The diplomatic efforts have raised hopes that Moscow might open the way for more civilians to evacuate even as Russian forces keep up their pressure on the capital and other major cities.

Previous talks have not led to major breakthroughs or a solution for getting aid or evacuation convoys to the strategic city of Mariupol, where hundreds of thousands of people faced extreme shortages of food, water, and medicine.

A Russian delegate to the talks, Leonid Slutsky, was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency before the latest round as saying the previous discussions had made significant progress and it was possible the delegations could soon reach draft agreements.

Ukrainian and European leaders have pushed for Russia to grant safe passage to civilians trapped by fighting. Ukrainian authorities said on March 13 that more than 10 humanitarian corridors were set to open, including to Mariupol, but such promises have repeatedly crumbled.

The…