Russia and Ukraine prepare for in-person talks after Zelenskyy says he’s ready to discuss neutral status

Delegations from Ukraine and Russia are scheduled to meet in Turkey today to conduct more talks.

David Arakhamia, a Ukrainian official who has been taking part in negotiations with Russia, said in a Facebook post on Sunday that delegates had decided to hold this round of talks in-person.

“Today, at the next round of talks on video connection, it was decided to hold the next live round by two delegations in Turkey on March 28-30,” he said, according to an NBC News translation.

— Chloe Taylor

The Mayor of Slavutych — home to employees of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant — said Monday that Russian troops have left the town, Reuters reported.

“They completed the work they had set out to do,” Mayor Yuri Fomichev said in an online video post, according to the news agency. “They surveyed the town, today they finished doing it and left the town. There aren’t any in the town right now.”

On Saturday, Ukrainian media reported that Slavutych had been captured by Russian forces.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s armed forces said in the early hours of Monday morning that some Russian troops were withdrawing from the Kyiv region to Belarus.

“The regrouping of individual units from the composition of the [Russian] Eastern Military District continues,” the armed forces said in a Facebook update.

“Units that have suffered significant losses in the process of offensive actions are usually taken to the territory of Belarus for the restoration of militia,” the update added, saying the withdrawal from the territory of the Kyiv region was “celebrated.”

But officials noted that battles continued across the country, and that Russian forces “continue missile and aviation strikes on important military infrastructure and advanced positions aimed at causing losses and personnel exhaustion.”

CNBC has not been able to independently verify these reports.

— Chloe Taylor

Russian cyberattacks on oil and gas infrastructure are highly likely given the country’s history of “tit-for-tat” action against sanctions, said Rob Lee, co-founder and CEO of cybersecurity firm Dragos.

“In 2014 when Russia invaded Ukraine and took Crimea, there was a number of … sanctions levied from the Western financial institutions,” Lee said on CNBC’s “Street Sign Asia.”

“As a result, Russia ended up using cyberattacks back against those financial institutions.”

“Now that we’re seeing sanctions against oil and gas infrastructure, Nord Stream 2 etc … we absolutely expect to start seeing cyberattacks against oil and gas infrastructure,” he said. Germany halted the certification of the Nord Stream 2 in late February — the gas pipeline was designed to bring natural gas from Russia directly to Europe.

The U.K.’s Ministry of Defense has said that over the last 24 hours there have been “no significant change to Russian forces’ dispositions in occupied Ukraine.”

A continued lack of momentum and morale among the Russian military, as well as ongoing logistical shortages and aggressive resistance from the Ukrainians are all causing problems for Russia, the U.K. said in an intelligence update.

“Russia has gained most ground in the south in the vicinity of Mariupol where heavy fighting continues as Russia attempts to capture the port,” it added.

— Chloe Taylor

Russia’s crude oil deliveries to India were fairly infrequent last year, but there’s been a “significant uptick” since the Russia-Ukraine war began, say industry observers.

Russian crude is being sold at “record discounts,” says the International Energy Agency.

Ellen Wald, president of Transversal Consulting, said a couple of commodity trading firms were also offering discounts of up to $30 per barrel two weeks ago for the Urals blend — the main oil blend that Russia exports.

While India’s motivations are economic, it would also likely weigh its friendship with Russia in purchasing its oil — since both countries having a long history, said Samir N. Kapadia, head of trade at government relations consulting firm Vogel Group.

Analysts say China, the largest oil importer in the world, could also go for discounted oil from Russia. “China really would prefer much cheaper oil … prices are way too high even in the $90 range that’s too high for China,” said Ellen Wald, president of Transversal Consulting.

— Weizhen Tan