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Russia-Ukraine, what are the bases of the negotiation?

In Istanbul the first face to face in two weeks of the delegations of Ukraine and Russia. Moscow seems to be retreating on the field with the will to safeguard certain conquests, the Donbass above all, but also to reorganize itself after more than a month of war that has led to less than what the Kremlin expected. If not a ceasefire, the hope is that at least a humanitarian truce will come.

On what basis do we start in the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine?

The Financial Times revealed a Russian plan that appears to have fewer stakes than in the past. In the draft on the ceasefire under discussion there is not what has always been defined “denazificationThat is, the farewell of the current government, and not even the demilitarization of the country. The request for the definitive abandonment of any hypothesis of entry into NATO remains, while the way is open for Ukraine to enter the European Union. There is also no legal protection for the Russian language in the draft. Certainly Russia would like to link any concessions to the easing of Western sanctions against it.

The guarantees

Volodymyr Zelensky it opened to a neutrality status of Ukraine by renouncing to join NATO and to possess nuclear weapons. The army would remain and Kiev could join the EU. There would be no restrictions on the use of Russian. However, territorial integrity should remain.

For Ukraine there would be the security guarantees agreed with Russia and a series of UN countries: United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, China, Italy, Poland, Israel and Turkey. According to the Ukrainians, these guarantees would be similar to those of Article 5 of the NATO, which leads to the intervention of allied countries in the event of an attack. This hypothesis should be submitted to a referendum.

Moscow says it has no plans to attack any NATO country. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told US broadcaster PBS, unless it is “a reciprocal act”.

Territories

The territorial issues are to be discussed. The areas in question are Crimea and the breakaway republics of Lugansk and Donetsk, in Donbass. Ukrainians do not want to give up and recognize them as independent or Russian. Russia effectively occupied Crimea militarily in 2014 and now the other regions. There is the hypothesis of a division of the country on the Korean model.

Other stories of Vanity Fair that might interest you:

– War in Ukraine

Source: Vanity Fair

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