2ND ROUND OF RUSSIA-UKRAINE TALKS END WITH AGREEMENT ON SAFE CORRIDORS FOR AID, EVACUATION

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Russian forces battled for control of a crucial energy-producing city in Ukraine's south on Thursday and gained ground in their bid to cut off the country from the sea, as another round of talks between the two sides yielded a tentative agreement to set up safe corridors inside Ukraine to evacuate citizens and deliver humanitarian aid.

And Russian negotiators who were part of the talks with Ukraine say another round of talks will likely be held shortly.

Vladimir Medinsky, Russian President Vladimir Putin's adviser who led the Russian delegation in the talks Thursday in Belarus near the Polish border, said the parties' "positions are absolutely clear. They are written down point by point,"

That includes issues related to a political settlement to the conflict, he said.

"Mutual understanding was found on part of them," he said but did not elaborate

He confirmed that Russia and Ukraine reached a tentative agreement in Thursday's talks to create safe corridors for civilians to exit besieged cities and observe local ceasefires if and when they take effect.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky who also took part in Thursday's talks, said that Russia and Ukraine reached a preliminary understanding that ceasefires will be observed in areas where the safe corridors are established.