Russia, Ukraine foreign ministers meeting in Turkey for peace talks

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has arrived in Antalya, Turkey for the first round of talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. In the first high-level contact between Kyiv and Moscow since Russia invaded its neighbour on February 24, the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers will hold face-to-face talks in southern Turkey on Thursday, March 10. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, will be joined at the meeting by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. Turkey has offered to mediate between the two sides amid Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Turkey is keen on maintaining strong relations with both sides despite the conflict.

Russia could be planning a chemical or biological weapon attack in Ukraine - and "we should all be on the lookout", the White House has said. It comes after US and UK officials shared similar concerns about fresh attacks. They said they were "very concerned" about the risk the war could escalate, and particularly the possibility of Russia using non-conventional weapons. "We should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them - it's a clear pattern,” said Psaki.