The Kyiv-Moscow talks in Turkey have been completed, according to Turkish media. The fourth round of face-to-face negotiations between the two delegations lasted a little over 3 hours.
The talks were held in Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace, closed to the press. About three hours after the start of negotiations, they broke off. It is not yet reported whether they will be continued in the near future. It was previously stated that they would last two days.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who became a mediator, addressed the participants in the talks before they began. “Now we have entered a period when there should be concrete results of the negotiations. It is in the interests of everyone to achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible,” NTV quoted Erdogan as saying. The Turkish president expressed hope that possible progress “will pave the way for a meeting between the leaders” of Russia and Ukraine, whom he called “dear friends.”
Podolyak’s statement on the talks
Advisor to the Head of the President’s Office Mikhail Podolyak declaredthat intensive consultations are currently ongoing on several important issues.
The key issue is an agreement on international security guarantees for Ukraine. He announced this today, March 29, at an intermediate briefing in Istanbul, where negotiations are taking place.
“Intensive consultations are underway on several important issues. The key is an agreement on international security guarantees for Ukraine, and only with this agreement can we end the war the way Ukraine needs it,” he said.
According to Podolyak, the second block of issues that the delegations are now discussing is a ceasefire so that all the accumulated humanitarian problems can be resolved.
“And today we have another problem that is getting bigger. This is the problem of the escalation of war, hatred, violation of the customs and rules of warfare, not only on the battlefields. We have calls to destroy one or another nation on the air in some places. “which leads to conflicts, video recordings of how the Geneva Convention on prisoners of war is violated,” Podolyak stressed.
The question of security guarantees
After the completion of the negotiations, the head of the Ukrainian delegation David Arakhamia declaredthat the issue of security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of its neutral status was discussed. According to him, the permanent members of the UN Security Council, including Russia, as well as Turkey, Germany, Israel and a number of other countries, should become guarantors.
According to Arakhamia, international guarantees will not yet apply to the annexed Crimea and territories of Donbas not controlled by Ukraine. The treaty must be approved in a referendum after the withdrawal of Russian troops. All guarantor countries should help Ukraine join the European Union.
At the talks as part of the Ukrainian delegation, Kirill Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the presidential office, who is in charge of regional policy, was first noticed. The Russian delegation is represented by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky.
Vladimir Medinsky: negotiations were constructive
The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said that the Russian side received from Ukraine for consideration their clearly formulated position for inclusion in the agreement. “These proposals will be considered in the near future, reported to the president, and our answer will be given,” said Medinsky
The head of the Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky and the representative of Ukraine David Arakhamia at the one-on-one talks in Istanbul pic.twitter.com/4e8LgXarlg
— Russia/Ukraine Updates (@rusukr321) March 29, 2022
The extended format was preceded by a tête-à-tête meeting between the head of the Russian delegation, Assistant to the President of Russia Vladimir Medinsky, and the head of the parliamentary faction of the ruling Servant of the People party of Ukraine, David Arakhamia.
“At the negotiations at the level of heads of delegations, which lasted about an hour, the question was raised about the conditions for a possible neutral status of Ukraine,” Medinsky told a correspondent. Interfax.
Russian businessman Roman Abramovich, who is not officially a member of the delegation, is participating in the talks in Istanbul. Agencies are circulating a photo of him with Erdogan, apparently taken before the start of negotiations.
Is there any chance of success?
Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the talks had not yet brought significant progress, but it was important that they continue live.
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone with Vladimir Putin, urging the Kremlin to negotiate a ceasefire.
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