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• Russian invasion enters its third week
• Foreign ministers of two countries met for 90 minutes, first time since invasion
Ukraine and Russia were unsuccessful in making any progress in halting the war on Thursday after the first high-level talks between the foreign ministers of the two countries since the invasion.
Russia indicated that it would continue with attacks until its goals are met, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said after the meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Turkey.
"The broad narrative he conveyed to me is that they will continue their aggression until Ukraine meets their demands, and the least of these demands is surrender," Kuleba said in a press conference held after the 90 minutes diplomatic talk.
Russia is open to have dialogues between the two presidents, "but those contacts must have added value," Lavrov said in the press conference, reiterating that Moscow is seeking the demilitarization of Ukraine.
'Live in their own reality'
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine entered the third week, a children's hospital and maternity ward in the southern city of Mariupol, Ukraine, witnessed a brutal attack, killing at least three, including a child, with multiple injured.
When asked by CNBC how Russia could justify the act, Lavrov said that it was "not the first time we've seen shouting in response to so-called atrocities."
Moreover, Lavrov said that Ukrainian "ultra radicals had already captured the hospital", but the Russian foreign minister could not present any evidence for the claim.
"Unfortunately, I can confirm that the Russian leadership, including Minister Lavrov, live in their own reality," Kuleba told CNBC. "In our talks, behind closed doors and in the absence of the media, he told me looking in my eyes that the pictures of pregnant women being taken from under the rubble of the maternity house are fake, that they hit the maternity house as a military target because the Russian military was absolutely sure that it was under the control of Ukrainian army."