He takes a step towards Ukraine. Russia’s chief negotiator in the peace talks with Ukraine, Vladimir Medinsky, on Sunday praised a “more realistic” position by kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, ready, under conditions, to accept a neutral status from the country, claimed by Russia. “The Ukrainian side has adopted a more realistic approach to issues related to the neutral and denuclearized status of Ukraine”, writes Vladimir Medinski on Telegram messaging, while specifying that an appropriate draft agreement is not yet ready for be submitted to the presidents of the two countries.
The Ukrainian chief negotiator, David Arakhamia, said on Saturday that Moscow, the Russian capital, accepted “orally” all Ukrainian positions, “except with regard to the question of Crimea”. “I have an objection to make. In reality (…), all these agreements obtained in Istanbul (Editor’s note: the Turkish capital) are nothing other than what Russia has been asking for since 2014″, reacted Vladimir Medinski, specifying that it is a question in particular of the neutral and denuclearized status of Ukraine and the non-deployment of foreign military bases on its territory. territory. If David Arakhamia “calls all this a Ukrainian position, let him do that”, added Vladimir Medinski.
Discussions on Donbass, Crimea and security guarantees
Ukraine’s negotiator hinted on Saturday that talks aimed at ending hostilities have made significant progress. Medinski ensures, for his part, not “to share this optimism”. ” The experts Ukrainian diplomatic and military officials are even very late in confirming the agreements already reached at the political level”, he explains.
Moscow must respond to a series of Ukrainian proposals for an agreement. kyiv is proposing Ukraine’s neutrality and renouncing membership in NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), provided that its security is guaranteed by other countries against Russia. It also proposes negotiations to resolve the status of the Ukrainian Donbass, in the east of the country, and Crimea, attached to Russia in 2014.
These proposals, described as first progress by Vladimir Medinski earlier this week, were made during face-to-face talks in Istanbul. Talks between Russia and Ukraine resumed via videoconference on Friday, with a new round scheduled for Monday.