What is expected from the next talks between Russia and Ukraine? 1:29
(CNN) — In an interview with Russian journalists on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke at length about an important point in possible peace talks: his country’s possible neutrality.
“We are ready to accept this,” Zelenskyy said. “That’s the most important point.”
Zelensky and Ukrainian officials have long said they are ready to discuss Ukraine’s neutrality if NATO is unwilling to accept the country as a member of the alliance.
That would theoretically fulfill one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands: that Ukraine give up its NATO ambitions.
But it is not that easy.
War in Ukraine: Is a diplomatic solution possible? 1:12
No to neutrality without guarantees
Zelenskyy also made it clear that Ukraine would reject “neutrality” without legally binding security guarantees. And with Ukraine under Russian invasion, the Ukrainian leader has said he is not interested in empty promises.
“I’m interested in making sure it’s not just another Budapest Memorandum-style role,” he said.
Zelenskyy was referring to a little-known moment in post-Cold War history. With the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine had, on paper at least, the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world.
Russia retained operational control of these weapons, but Ukraine signed an agreement in 1994 to surrender nuclear weapons stationed on its territory in exchange for security guarantees, including protection of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and political independence. Russia, as a signatory to the Budapest Memorandum, firmly trampled on this by annexing Crimea in 2014 and invading Ukraine in February.
Mykhailo Podolyak, Zelenskyy’s senior adviser, said that security guarantees should essentially include a commitment by guarantors to help Ukraine in case of aggression.
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What the Ukrainian Constitution says
And it is important to add that any neutrality that Putin might find acceptable is something that Zelenskyy cannot easily offer. The quest for NATO membership is enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine.
There Zelenskyy gave the Russian interviewers a little lesson about the democratic processes in Ukraine. Security guarantees, he explained, must be followed by a referendum in Ukraine.
“Why? Because we have a law on referendums,” Zelenskyi said. “We approved it. Changes to this or that status… And security guarantees require constitutional changes. You understand, don’t you? Constitutional changes.”
And therein lies the difference. Russia has a political system built around one man, Putin, and Zelenskyy is the head of a democratic state. Even if neutrality is on the negotiating table, the Ukrainian people will have to voice their opinions.