Facts about Russia-Ukraine conflict: Russia says closer to agreement as Ukraine claims unchanged position

BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The Russia-Ukraine conflict continues on Saturday as relevant parties are working to broker a peaceful solution. Following are the latest developments of the situation:

Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, also the head of the Russian delegation in several rounds of talks with Ukraine, said Friday that the two sides have moved closer to agreement on the key issue of Ukraine dropping attempts to join NATO and adopting a neutral status.

According to Russian media reports, he said that the two sides are now "halfway" on issues regarding the demilitarization of Ukraine, though their positions on the management of Donbass still differ.

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Ukraine's positions at the peace talks with Russia remain unchanged, Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said on Friday.

"Our positions remain unchanged: a ceasefire, the withdrawal of troops and strict security guarantees with specific formulas," tweeted Podolyak, who is also a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the peace talks with Russia.

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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that he is ready for fresh talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, the Ukrainian news outlet Ukrayinska Pravda reported Friday.

"I am ready to talk to him, I am ready to have a serious, substantive conversation with him," Kuleba was quoted as saying.

Kuleba emphasized that the possible meeting should focus on finding solutions to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in Ukraine during a telephone call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Friday.

The Russian president explained that the country's armed forces were doing everything possible to save civilian lives and open humanitarian corridors for the safe evacuation of the population, in response to concerns raised by the French leader.

The French leader expressed concern over the situation in Mariupol, and called for an immediate ceasefire, local media reported.

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Putin on Friday held a phone conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, voicing Moscow's readiness to explore solutions to the Russia-Ukraine conflict during negotiations with the Ukrainian side.

Putin criticized Kiev for "trying to delay the negotiation process in every way possible, putting forward more unrealistic proposals," the Kremlin said.

During the conversation, Scholz called for a ceasefire, improvement in the humanitarian situation, and a diplomatic solution to the conflict as soon as possible, according to a statement issued by the German government.

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Russian forces have destroyed a parking lot with Ukrainian combat aircraft in Ukraine's western city of Lviv, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Friday.

"On the morning of March 18, high-precision long-range weapons attacked Ukraine's military infrastructure. As a result of the strike, a parking lot with Ukrainian combat aircraft at an aircraft repair plant in the city of Lviv was destroyed, as well as ammunition depots and Ukrainian military equipment in the suburbs of Mykolaiv and Voznesens'k," Igor was quoted by Sputnik as saying.