Russia and Ukraine hold their first talks in the Gomel region of Belarus.

The Russian side arrived in Belarus on Sunday, while the Ukrainian delegation arrived by military helicopters to the negotiating venue just under two hours before the talks began, BelTA reported.

The delegations are meeting near the Ukrainian border on the bank of the Pripyat River. For security reasons, the exact location of the meeting has not been disclosed.

The Russian delegation is headed by Vladimir Medinsky, advisor to the Russian president. It also includes deputy heads of the Defence Ministry and Foreign Ministry Andrey Rudenko, Alexander Fomin and the head of the State Duma committee for international affairs, Leonid Slutskiy.

The Ukrainian side is represented by Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, advisor to the head of the presidential office Mykhailo Podoliyak, head of the faction of the ruling Servant of the People Davyd Arakhamia, first deputy head of the Ukrainian delegation to the contact group for the Donbas settlement Andrey Kostin, MP Rustem Umerov and Deputy Foreign Minister Mykola Tochytskyi.