UPDATE: Russian Is Out of The 2022 World Cup

On Monday, Russia and Ukrainia began negotiations in Pripyat on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border. The Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei conveyed President Alexandr Lukashenko's wish that the negotiations allow finding ways to resolve "the problems". Below are the main developments in the Ukraine-Russia conflict as they happen.

RELATED:

Russia - Ukraine Negotiations Have Started in Belarus

FIFA and UEFA suspend Russian teams. The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) decided to suspend Russian clubs until further notice. This implies that the Russian national team will not be able to participate in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The FIFA-UEFA resolution was made public after the recommendation made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to the federations so that "they do not invite or allow the participation of Russian or Belarusian athletes or managers".

The Russian team had yet to play the playoffs to qualify for one of the three European places that still remain for the Qatar Cup. On March 24, Russia was expected to play as local against Poland.

Finland will provide weapons to Ukraine. “Finland will provide military assistance to Ukraine. This is a historic decision for Finland,” Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced on Monday.

"There will be 2,500 assault rifles, 150,000 ammunition, 1,500 rocket launchers, and 70,000 field rations," Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen said.

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators return to their countries. After holding a first round of talks on Monday, the representatives of the governments of Russia and Ukraine returned to their countries to hold "respective consultations" with their authorities.

"The parties established a series of priorities and issues that require certain decisions," said Mikhailo Podoiak, a Ukrainian negotiator, suggesting that there would be a second round of talks. This possibility was confirmed by the Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky, who said that the new meeting would take place "soon" on the border between Poland and Belarus.

"The meeting is over after five hours of talks," the chairman of the Russian Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee, Leonid Slutsky said, mentioning that negotiators had identified several points on which they could move forward.

“The main result is that the negotiations took place, the parties listened to each other. We found a number of important points where progress is possible,” he stressed, adding that the Russians will contact the Ukrainians in the next 24 hours to inform them of the exact date and time for the next round of negotiations.

UN rights body to hold emergency debate on Ukraine situation. The ongoing 49th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) decided to hold an emergency debate on the situation in Ukraine later this week. The decision was made following a roll-call vote of 29 votes in favor, five against and 13 abstentions.

At the opening of the session, Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations (UN), said via video link that the escalation of "military operations" by Russia in Ukraine was leading to human rights violations.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet told the session that during the period from Thursday morning to Sunday night, her office had recorded 102 civilians killed and 304 people injured.

Russia and Ukraine in dialogue. For the Ukrainians, the talks will revolve around achieving an immediate ceasefire in the special operation that Russia launched five days ago and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine. For the Russians, on the other hand, the central issue is to get Ukraine to adopt a neutral status with respect to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

A few hours before the start of the negotiations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Russian soldiers to lay down their arms and leave Ukraine. For its part, Russia affirmed that the negotiations do not imply that it stops the military operation.

The Ukrainian delegation includes Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, the leader of the faction of the official party "Servant of the People" David Arakhamia, Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak, the deputy head of the Ukrainian delegation in the Trilateral Contact Group for Peace in Donbas, Andriy Kostin, lawmaker Rustem Umerov, and Deputy Foreign Minister Mykola Tochytsky.

In the Russian delegation are Vladimir Medinski, assistant to the President of Russia, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko, the Deputy Defense Minister, and Leonid Slutski, who is the chairman of the Lower House's International Affairs Committee. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peksov said that he does not want to comment on the prospects of a deal at the meeting, urging everyone to let negotiators work quietly.

"Actually, I suggest that we wait for the talks. I prefer not to announce any demands of ours. The negotiations must be carried out in silence," he stressed, adding that "the only thing we regret is that the negotiations did not start a day earlier, when we had this opportunity. As you know, our delegation has been waiting there, in Belarus, for many hours. Our delegation was ready since midnight, but the opposite party arrived a short time ago."

For logistical and security reasons, the Ukrainian delegation finally arrived shortly before 12 noon local time in a Polish helicopter. The Ukrainian officials finally agreed to travel to Belarus, although not to Minsk as Russia had initially proposed, since they consider that Lukashenko is not neutral, having welcomed over 30,000 Russian soldiers and military equipment for joint exercises.