Russia has told Ukraine it will stop its offensive “in a moment” if Kyiv meets a number of Kremlin conditions as the two sides meet for a third round of “peace talks”.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that Russia is demanding that Ukraine cease hostilities, change its constitution to secure neutrality, recognize Crimea as Russian territory, and recognize the separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk regions as independent territories.
Peskov said Ukraine was aware of the conditions. “And they were told that all this can be stopped in one moment,” he added.
It was Russia’s most candid statement to date about the conditions it wants to impose on Ukraine to stop the so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine that has been going on for 12 days and has reportedly killed more than 10,000 Russians. troops.
Peskov’s statement came as a Russian delegation departed for Belarus to meet with Ukrainian negotiators for a third round of ceasefire talks.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba are also due to meet at a forum in Turkey on Thursday, Ankara said. This will be the first summit meeting since Moscow launched its invasion on February 24th.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that Russia is demanding that Ukraine cease hostilities, change its constitution to secure neutrality, recognize Crimea as Russian territory, and recognize the separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk regions as independent territories.
Speaking today about neutrality, Peskov said: “They should amend the constitution, according to which Ukraine will reject any goal of joining any bloc. This is possible only by amending the constitution.”
The Kremlin spokesman said that Russia does not seek to present any territorial claims to Ukraine.
“We are indeed completing the demilitarization of Ukraine. We will finish this. But the main thing is that Ukraine stops hostilities. They must stop their fighting, and then no one will shoot,” he said.
“They should amend their constitution, according to which Ukraine will reject any goal of joining any bloc,” Peskov said.
“We also talked about how they should recognize that Crimea is Russian territory, and that they should recognize that Donetsk and Luhansk are independent states. That’s all. It will stop in a moment,” Peskov told Reuters.
The invasion, launched on February 24, resulted in the deaths of thousands of both civilians and military personnel, triggered the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II, and provoked outrage around the world.
Russia has long demanded that Ukraine agree to rule out NATO membership. In 2019, then-president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed a constitutional amendment obliging the country to strive to become a member of NATO and the EU.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced today that Lavrov and Kuleba will meet in the resort town of Antalya.
The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed this plan.
A tank with the letter “Z” painted on its side in the separatist-controlled village of Bugas during the Ukrainian-Russian conflict in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, March 6, 202.
View of a residential building damaged by recent shelling during the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine in Chernihiv, Ukraine on March 3, 2022.
NATO member Turkey, which has a maritime border with Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea, has offered mediation between the parties.
Ankara has good relations with both Moscow and Kiev and has called the Russian invasion unacceptable, even though it opposes sanctions against Moscow.
Cavusoglu said that during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, President Tayyip Erdogan repeated Turkey’s offer to hold the meeting, and Lavrov later accepted it.
“We especially hope that this meeting will be a turning point and … an important step towards peace and stability,” he said, adding that both ministers had asked him to join the talks.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, confirmed the meeting on Telegram.
Kuleba said on Saturday that he was ready to negotiate with Lavrov, but only if they were “meaningful.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (right) and Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba (left) are also due to meet at a forum in Turkey on Thursday, Ankara said. This will be the first summit meeting since Moscow launched its invasion on February 24th.
On Monday, Russia announced new “humanitarian corridors” to transport Ukrainians trapped under its bombardment into Russia itself and its ally Belarus, a move Kyiv immediately denounced as an immoral stunt.
The announcement came after two days of an unsuccessful ceasefire to allow civilians to leave the besieged city of Mariupol, where hundreds of thousands of people are trapped without food or water, under relentless shelling and unable to evacuate their wounded.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation.” This resulted in the expulsion of more than 1.5 million people in what the United Nations says is the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.
While developing close ties with Russia in defense, trade and energy, and hosting millions of Russian tourists every year, Turkey has also sold drones to Ukraine, angering Moscow.
Ankara also opposes Russian policies in Syria and Libya, as well as Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.