(Photo: Shatterstock)
On the way to the end of the fighting? Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke today (Monday) with French President Emanuel Macron, in light of the talks held today between Russia and Ukraine on the Belarusian border.
According to the Russian statement, Putin told Macron that a settlement with Ukraine would be possible only if Kyiv remained “neutral, not Nazi and demilitarized”. He added that a ceasefire agreement could only be reached if the world officially recognized Russia’s sovereignty over the Crimean peninsula. “Russia is open to talks with representatives of Ukraine, and expects them to lead to the desired outcome,” he said.
At the same time, Macron’s office said that the conversation between Putin and Macron lasted about an hour and a half, after which the French president also spoke with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zlansky. During the conversation Makron asked the Russian president to put an end to attacks on civilians in Ukraine, to maintain civilian infrastructure in the country and to leave the roads there open. According to the French, Putin expressed his willingness to discuss these issues, and the two agreed to keep in touch in the coming days.
As you may recall, this morning negotiations began between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine on the border with Belarus. The Office of the President of Ukraine stated that the main issues in the negotiations are an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine. According to Ukrainian media reports, the first round of talks lasted about 6 hours, and now the delegations will return to Moscow and Kiev for consultations before another round of talks.
The Ukrainians agreed to talks on the border between Belarus and Ukraine, after refusing to accept the Russians’ offer to hold talks inside Belarus itself. Ukraine demanded that the talks be held in a neutral location, as the Russians were attacking them from Belarus. Following this, there have been many reports of Belarus’ possible joining the war in support of Russia.
After Zalanski’s conversation with Belarusian President Lukashenko, the parties reached an agreement, with Lukashenko promising that no attacks would be carried out from the country during the talks – but despite this, rocket fire from Belarus was reported during the discussions. Zalansky himself said he “does not believe in the success of peace talks with Russia in Belarus, but is willing to try”
According to many estimates in the West, Putin does not really intend to hold real negotiations, but only wants to bring down the “failure of dialogue” on Ukraine and justify the continuation of hostilities. In the way he wanted, as the Russian army struggled to advance rapidly against the backdrop of fierce Ukrainian resistance, and began to suffer heavy losses.
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