Russia and Ukraine made “significant progress” in the latest round of talks in Istanbul. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said that Moscow was “taking a positive step forward”, even if “the final result is not yet available”.
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In an interview with Russian media, Lavrov stressed that Ukrainian negotiators “reconfirmed the need to guarantee Ukraine’s nonnuclear and neutral status and its security outside NATO” and “understood that the problems of Crimea and Donbass will remain forever are resolved”.
Lavrov then stressed comments from the White House, which expressed caution about the negotiations and argued that Moscow’s announcement of deescalation must follow the facts: “If we are talking about those whose words do not follow the facts, then I will don’t even cite the plethora of examples where the US has said one thing but done very differently.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko replied to Lavrov, clarifying that Crimea and Donbass are “solved problems” only after Ukraine has restored its sovereignty over these areas.
“Lavrov demonstrates a misunderstanding of the negotiation process. The Crimean and Donbass issues will be finally resolved after Ukraine restores its sovereignty over them. During the talks in Istanbul, the Ukrainian delegation presented their proposals on how to achieve this,” wrote Nikolenko on Twitter.
“Ukraine has declared that it is ready to fulfill these basic requirements, which Russia has been insisting on for the past few years. Fulfilling these commitments will eliminate the threat of creating a NATO bridgehead on Ukrainian territory,” said today the Russian head of delegation for talks with Kyiv and Kremlin adviser Vladimir Medinsky during an interview with Rossiya 24 channel.
According to the negotiator, at the talks that took place yesterday in Istanbul, Ukraine presented “the principles of a possible future agreement that provide for a freeze on NATO membership, Ukraine’s neutrality status, “renunciation of nuclear weapons, as well as possession , the acquisition and the development of other types of weapons of mass destruction, the refusal to include foreign military bases and contingents, the obligation to conduct military exercises with the participation of foreign armed forces only in agreement with the guarantor states, including Russia.
Medinsky stressed that Ukraine “for the first time in all past years declared its readiness to negotiate with Russia,” and then reiterated that “our country’s principles regarding Crimea and Donbass remain unchanged.” “Negotiations continue,” he added during the interview.