- A Ukrainian negotiator says the mood at peace talks with Russia has changed significantly this week.
- It followed that Ukraine accused Russia of killing more than 300 civilians in the Kiev suburb of Bucha.
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A member of Ukraine’s team negotiating peace talks with Russia says the mood underlying the trial has irrevocably changed after evidence of the mass killing of civilians in Bucha, near Kyiv.
After Ukrainian forces retook the suburb in early April, officials said Russian forces killed more than 300 civilians in the occupation and in some cases raped women before shooting them dead.
Russia denies killing civilians and says the deaths were staged by the US to portray Russia as evil. Many Western nations have condemned Russia, and the UN on Thursday voted to bar Russia from the body’s Human Rights Council.
Senior Russian and Ukrainian officials have held several rounds of peace talks since February 28, but without reaching a concrete agreement.
In a statement televised on Friday, Mykhailo Podolyak, one of Ukraine’s peace negotiators and adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the tone of the peace talks had changed forever because of Bucha, RBC-Ukraine reported.
“Today there are some changes in the background of the negotiations, related to the events in the Kyiv region, not only Bucha – and that leaves a certain impression,” he said.
“This is not about the actual conduct of the negotiations, but about the emotional background on which these negotiations are conducted.
“The Russian Federation is increasingly not perceived in the world as a civilized state living by the rules of civilization,” he added.
The peace talks initially took place on the Ukrainian border with Belarus, but have since been relocated to Turkey, which has positioned itself as a mediator.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Ibrahim Kalin, a senior adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said the Bucha scene “made it difficult for negotiations to continue as before”.
“Ukrainians are devastated, as are all of us… these are truly horrible, totally unacceptable, inhuman acts and whoever did this should be brought to justice,” he said.
As Ukraine seeks a ceasefire, Zelenskyy and his negotiators have shown their willingness to declare neutral status and abandon plans to join NATO in line with Russia’s demands.
However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that Ukraine’s latest peace proposal, put forward on Wednesday, contained “unacceptable” elements such as a clause allowing Ukraine to hold military exercises with allies without needing Russia’s permission.
Despite the impasse, Podolyak said Friday that peace talks at various levels of seniority are constantly underway.
“There are meetings where delegations meet directly and some interim results are summarized. And there is a permanent online process that involves working groups – diplomatic, legal, military and so on.”