Russia has warned that the Kremlin’s position on the status of the Republic of Crimea and the Donbass region has not changed, presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky said on Friday.
Photo: pl
The head of the Moscow delegation to the negotiations with Kyiv reported on his Telegram channel that talks will continue this Friday in video conference format.
Among the conditions demanded by Moscow since talks began is recognition of the reunification of the Republic of Crimea with Russia and the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics with their 2014 borders.
The last round of consultations took place in person in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 29, a meeting described as positive by the Russian side. Medinski pointed out that the proposals presented by Kyiv during the meeting include provisions on Ukraine’s renunciation of membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and nuclear weapons, as well as establishing its status as a non-aligned country.
It also renounces the manufacture and use of all types of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and bacteriological.
The document also contains the country’s refusal to join military blocs, a ban on placing foreign military bases and contingents on the state territory and conducting military exercises without the consent of the guarantor states, including Russia.
He foresees that Kyiv will give up the possibility of regaining Crimea, Sevastopol and Donbass by military means, but assures that he will continue bilateral negotiations with Moscow on this issue.
According to the text, Russia, for its part, would not oppose Ukraine’s aspirations to join the European Union.
Medinski clarified that the Kremlin would present its proposals after studying Kyiv’s and predicted that there was still a long way to go to prepare a mutually acceptable agreement.
(taken from PL)