“A ceasefire in the war between Ukraine and Russia is the highest goal” of the negotiations between the delegations in Kyiv and Moscow. But this “minimum concerns the response to humanitarian needs” in Ukraine. This was stated by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on the eve of a new round of talks scheduled for today in Turkey.
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According to the Financial Times, citing a draft agreement, Russia will no longer call for Ukraine’s “denazification” or its “demilitarization” at the talks and would be willing to admit Ukraine as part of the deal in the European Union (EU). exchange for security guarantees and if it refrains from joining NATO. The draft ceasefire document therefore does not contain a discussion of three of Russia’s original basic demands, namely “denazification”, “demilitarization” and legal protection for the Russian language in Ukraine, writes the Financial Times.
David Arakhamia, leader of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s party in parliament and a member of the Kyiv negotiating team, told the Financial Times that the parties are close to the security guarantees agreement and Ukraine’s EU accession, but cautioned about the prospects for Ukraine a breakthrough. “All issues” have been on the table “from the beginning” of the negotiations, but “many points are unresolved,” said Arakhamia. Another source briefed on the talks said Ukraine is concerned that Russia is changing its position almost daily, both on military pressure and on demands such as the “demilitarization” of Kiev.
“Sovereignty and territorial integrity” are Kiev’s priorities, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, adding that “effective security guarantees are a must”. “Ukraine is ready to discuss accepting neutral status as part of a peace deal with Russia, but this needs to be guaranteed by a third party and subject to a referendum,” he added.
Kuleba stressed that “there will be no referendum” at the table because it is “an internal matter in Ukraine.” We will decide which referendum will be held or not, it is not a question that is part of the negotiations. “The President of Ukraine always focuses on the position of his people, the position of Ukrainians. In terms of national unity, we’ve come a long way this month. I rule out that the government can do anything against the will of the people,” added the minister.
According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, Russia’s demands regarding Crimea and Donbass are “not realistic”. “Crimea and Donbass are rightly red lines for Ukrainians that directly affect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine,” Kalin said, recalling that Turkey “did not recognize the annexation of Crimea,” noting the fact citing that “even China did not recognize the annexation of Crimea”.
In Ukraine, meanwhile, the resistance of the cities continues. “Irpin is free from Moscow’s invaders,” Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn proclaimed in a video posted to social media. While Russia would have withdrawn part of its armed forces from the Kyiv region due to the “significant losses” suffered. Ukrainian Armed Forces also announced that there was a “marked decrease in the intensity” with which troops are moving from Russia to Ukraine.
The situation is different in Mariupol, which is on the brink of a “humanitarian catastrophe” and needs to be completely evacuated, said the mayor of the city in southern Ukraine, Vadym Boichenko, specifying that about 160,000 people are trapped and without electricity and beyond. 80% of the buildings in the city were destroyed. In the city of Kharkiv 1,100 buildings were destroyed, Chernihiv is half destroyed. Irpin, Hostomel and Borodyanka were completely razed to the ground.
Russian soldiers used cluster bombs in the Odessa region and in the Kherson region, prosecutor general of Kyiv Iryna Venediktova condemned and claimed to have evidence.
And 1,099 people were evacuated from besieged cities of Ukraine through humanitarian corridors. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, number two in the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wrote in an online post. Among the evacuees today are 586 people by car from Mariupol and 513 by bus from the Luhansk region.