6:55 a.m .: Putin still hopes for a “positive result” in the negotiations
Antonio Guterres met Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Tuesday. On this occasion the Russian President told the head of the United Nations that he still believed in a positive outcome of the negotiations with Ukraine. Despite the fighting, “negotiations are continuing (…) I hope we will achieve a positive result,” said the master of the Kremlin.
He also affirmed that the negotiations between Moscow and kyiv in Istanbul, at the end of March, had enabled “serious progress because our Ukrainian colleagues had not linked the security requirements, of Ukraine’s international security, to a some understanding of Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders”.
During these negotiations, kyiv had proposed an international agreement establishing countries guaranteeing its security. In exchange, Ukraine would accept a “non-nuclear” and neutral status, renounce joining NATO, authorize foreign military bases on its territory and exclude for a time from negotiations issues related to annexed Crimea and separatist territories. of Donbass. After these negotiations, Moscow withdrew its troops to northern Ukraine.