(Istanbul) Russia promised on Tuesday to “drastically” reduce its military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Cherniguiv in Ukraine, after “substantial” Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul.
Posted at 8:17 a.m.
Updated at 8:54 am
« Negotiations on an agreement on the neutrality and non-nuclear status of Ukraine entering a practical dimension […]it was decided, in order to increase confidence, to drastically reduce military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Cherniguiv,” Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said in Istanbul after the talks.
Head of Russian delegation and Kremlin representative Vladimir Medinsky reported ‘substantial discussions’ and said Ukraine’s ‘clear’ proposals for an agreement would be ‘studied very soon and submitted to the President ” Vladimir Poutine.
According to him, a meeting of Ukrainian leaders Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian Vladimir Putin, and representatives of guarantor states, would be possible in the event of an agreement to end hostilities.
“Regarding a meeting of the two presidents, we have said from the start that it will be possible when there is an agreement […] The meeting could be multilateral, with the participation of guarantor states,” he said.
“After today’s substantial discussion, we have agreed and propose that the meeting be held to initial the agreement,” he said.
“Provided that we work quickly on the agreement, and find the necessary compromises, the possibility of concluding peace will come closer,” Medinski said.
Kyiv wants an “international agreement” guaranteeing its security
Ukraine will agree to be neutral if it obtains an “international agreement” to guarantee its security, to which several countries acting as guarantors would be signatories, the chief Ukrainian negotiator indicated on Tuesday after several hours of Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul .
“We insist that this is an international agreement that will be signed by all security guarantors,” said David Arakhamia. “We want an international mechanism of security guarantees where the guarantor countries will act in a way analogous to Article 5 of NATO and even in a more firm way”, he added.
Article 5 of the Atlantic Alliance treaty stipulates that an attack against one of its members is an attack against all.
Mr. Arakhamia cited, among the countries that Ukraine would like to have as guarantors, the United States, China, France and Great Britain-members of the UN Security Council-but also Turkey, the Germany, Poland and Israel.
“Ukraine will accept a neutral status if the security guarantee system works,” he added.
For these guarantees to take effect as soon as possible, Crimea and the Donbass territories – under the control of pro-Russian separatists – would be “temporarily excluded” from the agreement, the negotiator further specified.
He said that after Tuesday’s talks in Istanbul, the conditions were “sufficient” for a summit meeting between Russian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.