LAST UPDATE: 18.36
Talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators held this morning in Istanbul aimed at ending the war in Ukraine have ended. The talks lasted about four hours with some breaks, while according to an announcement by the Turkish Foreign Minister, the talks will not continue on Wednesday.
Russia has said it is “drastically” reducing its military activity in the Kiev and Chernihiv regions of northern Ukraine, following “substantial” Ukrainian-Russian talks in Istanbul. “As negotiations on a neutrality and non-nuclear status agreement between Ukraine enter a practical dimension (…) it was decided to drastically reduce military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv in order to strengthen mutual trust,” he said in a statement. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin.
Russia’s promise to de-escalate its military operations around Kyiv and northern Ukraine does not mean a ceasefire, the chief Russian negotiator said in talks with Ukraine on Tuesday. “This is not a ceasefire, but it is our expectation that we will gradually achieve a de-escalation of the conflict, at least on these fronts,” Vladimir Medinsky told TASS. to de-escalate military operations near the cities of Kiev and Chernigiv.
The Russian General Staff will reveal in more detail the decisions taken after the return of the Russian delegation to Moscow, Fomin said.
The head of the Russian delegation spoke of “substantive talks”. He said the Russian delegation would consider the Ukrainian proposals and pass them on to Putin. According to Reuters, he said that the meeting between Putin and Zelensky is possible only if the agreement is approved by the foreign ministries of the two countries.
Vladimir Medinsky said today that the Kiev proposals, in the talks held today in Istanbul, included one on the basis of which Russia will not oppose Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
Medinsky’s statement was broadcast on Russian state television after the Istanbul talks.
According to the Russian agency Ria Novosti, however, Moscow proposed that a meeting between Presidents Putin and Zelensky be held in Kyiv with the simultaneous signing of a peace agreement by the two countries’ foreign ministers. Medinsky also said that Ukraine had set a condition for Moscow not to stand in the way of its accession to the European Union.
Security guarantees
Ukraine, for its part, has proposed a neutrality regime in exchange for security guarantees during the last round of talks with Russia, which means it will not join military alliances or host foreign military bases, the Ukrainians said. negotiators.
The proposals will include another 15-year period of consultations on the annexed Crimean regime and will only take effect if there is a complete ceasefire, negotiators told reporters in Istanbul.
These proposals are the most detailed and clear so far publicly expressed by Ukraine.
They also provide security guarantees similar to those of NATO Article 5, the article on collective defense and security.
Poland, Israel, Turkey and Canada could be among the guarantors of security.
“If we manage to consolidate these basic provisions, and for us this is the most fundamental, then Ukraine will be able to establish its status in a non-bloc and non-nuclear state, in the form of a permanent neutrality, “said Ukrainian negotiator Alexander Chaly.
“We will not host foreign military bases on our territory, nor will we deploy foreign military forces on our territory, and we will not join international military-political alliances,” he said in comments broadcast on Ukrainian national television.
“Military exercises on our territory will be carried out with the consent of the guarantor countries,” he added.
There was not enough material in the current Ukrainian proposals to guarantee a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian negotiators said, adding that they were awaiting Moscow’s response.
The members of the UN Security Council are the guarantors
Ukraine proposes that the International Security Assistance Treaty be signed by members of the UN Security Council, so that the mechanism to be activated in the event of a threat is similar to Article 5 of the NATO Charter, but provides for long-term consultations. not more than three days. The statement was made by David Arahamia, a member of the Ukrainian negotiating team, during a briefing in Istanbul, the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform reports.
“Today we formally made a proposal, a scheme for a new system of guarantees for Ukraine,” Arahamia said, noting that “we do not sign anything at all, but simply submit our proposals as negotiators to the Russian side.” “We insist on an international agreement, signed by all security guarantors, which will be ratified so that the mistake… made with the Budapest Memorandum is not repeated.”
According to Arahamias, this agreement should be a mechanism for security guarantees for Ukraine that will really work, where the guarantor countries will be obliged, in accordance with Article 5 of the NATO Charter, to hold consultations, which will not last more than three days, in case there will be an act of invasion and they will provide their assistance.
“Which countries do we see among the guarantor countries? The UN Security Council countries, which are Britain, the People’s Republic of China, and the Russian Federation are also included, but we will refer to it separately, of course the USA, France, “Turkey, Germany, Canada, Italy, Poland, Israel,” said the Ukrainian negotiator.
He added that these are the countries and the agreement should be open in case other countries express the desire to sign it.
Arahamia said talks were under way with countries that could potentially guarantee Ukraine’s security, and that some had already given their prior consent.
At the same time, the Ukrainian negotiator said that the issues concerning Donetsk and Lugansk, Crimea and Sevastopol are not settled by this possible future agreement, and “international security guarantees will temporarily not work in these territories, so that the guarantors can activate these guarantees “.
Intensive consultation
However, Mikhail Pontoliak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Mikheil Saakashvili, made it clear that any solution to Ukraine’s new security referendum for approval by the citizens of the country.
“It will be a referendum in which all Ukrainian citizens will express their position on this agreement and how it will work,” he said, speaking on Ukrainian television.
Only after such popular approval will the Russia-Ukraine agreement be ratified by the parliaments of the countries providing the security guarantees and finally by the Ukrainian parliament, Pontoliak added, clarifying that the Ukrainian government needs support of its people to make any agreement meaningful.
“The key issue was the agreement on international security guarantees for Ukraine. Only with this agreement can we end the war, as Ukraine needs,” Pontoliak said, referring to the Ukrainian government’s position that Ukraine would adopt a neutral regime. only if it is provided with binding security guarantees.
The second set of issues, Pontoliak added, “is the issue of the ceasefire, in order to solve all humanitarian problems.”
Ukrainian officials have said there is a major humanitarian crisis in cities receiving heavy Russian bombardment, including the besieged port of Mariupol.
Pontoliak also referred to videos and other evidence that have surfaced about the apparent ill-treatment of detainees and other possible violations of the laws of armed conflict.
“I would also like to stress that today we have another growing problem, the problem of escalating the war, escalating hatred, escalating violations of the rules of war, not just on the battlefield,” Pontoliak said.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt ÇavuÅŸoλουlu said that The most important progress in the negotiations between the two countries was made in today’s talks.
Erdogan: Immediate ceasefire
Earlier in the day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed delegations from both countries, saying both sides had “reasonable and legitimate concerns”.
Addressing the negotiators before the talks began, Erdogan added that the time had come for concrete results and called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.
“It is up to both sides to put an end to this tragedy. Achieving a ceasefire and peace as soon as possible is in everyone’s interest. We believe that we have now entered a period in which concrete results from the talks are needed,” Erdogan said. .
The Turkish president also said that “the prolongation of the conflict is not in anyone’s interest”, at a time when tens of millions of civilians have been forced to flee their homes in Ukraine.
“The negotiation process, being conducted under the command of your leaders, has raised hopes for peace,” he added. “Everyone expects good news from you,” he said.
According to the Russian agency Ria Novosti, the Turkish president, after being in the palace, left the place of talks between the two delegations for Uzbekistan.
Prisoners and Abramovich
A Russian negotiator said that Russia had protested to the Ukrainian delegation about the abuse of prisoners, as reported by the Russian agency TASS.
At the same time, a high-ranking Ukrainian military official said that anyone who violates the law regarding the treatment of prisoners of war will be prosecuted.
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin led the Russian delegation, which also included negotiator Vladimir Medinsky, while David Arachmia is leading the Ukrainian delegation, which also includes Minister of Foreign Affairs Orakh , Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
According to two sources quoted by Reuters, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who has been sanctioned by the West, took part in the negotiations. Meanwhile, according to Ria Novosti, Abramovich spoke with Erdogan before the talks began.
The first talks between the Moscow and Kiev delegations took place on February 28 in the Gomel region of Belarus. Representatives of Russia and Ukraine then met on March 3 in Belovezhskaya Pusha and on March 7 in the Brest region. The first meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Russia and Ukraine after the start of the war took place on March 10 in Antalya. In mid-March, it was decided that the conversations would take place daily via the internet.
Source: Capital

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