The Achieving “a ceasefire in the war between Ukraine and Russia is the maximum goal” of the negotiations between the delegations of Kiev and Moscow. But that “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.
At the talks, according to the Financial Times citing a draft agreement, Russia will no longer ask for the ” denazification ” of Ukraine, nor its ” demilitarization ” and would be ready to allow Ukraine to join the European Union (EU) in exchange for security guarantees and if it renounces joining NATO. The draft ceasefire document, therefore, contains no discussion of three of Russia’s initial fundamental demands, namely “denazification”, “demilitarization” and legal protection for the Russian language in Ukraine, writes the Financial Times.
David Arakhamia, head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party in parliament and a member of the Kiev negotiating team, told the Financial Times that the parties are close to the agreement on security guarantees and Ukraine’s entry into the EU, but he urged caution about the prospects for a breakthrough. “All issues” have been “on the table since the beginning” of the negotiations, but “many points are unresolved,” Arakhamia said. Another source briefed on the talks said Ukraine was concerned that Russia was changing its position almost every day, both in terms of military pressure and demands such as the “demilitarization” of Kiev.
“Sovereignty and territorial integrity” are Kiev’s priorities, said the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, adding that “effective security guarantees are a must”. “Ukraine is ready to discuss the adoption of neutral status as part of a peace agreement with Russia, but it will have to be guaranteed by a third party and put to a referendum,” he added.
Kuleba highlighted that at the table “there will be no referendum” because it is “an internal issue in Ukraine. We will decide which referendum to hold or not, it is not a question that is part of the negotiation. “” The president of Ukraine always focuses on the position of his people, the position of the Ukrainians. We have come a long way this month with respect to national unity. I exclude that the government can do anything against the will of the people “, added the minister.
According to the spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ibrahim Kalin, the requests made by Russia regarding Crimea and the 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 ” citing the fact that “even China did not recognize the annexation of Crimea”.
In the meantime, the resistance of the cities continues in Ukraine. “Irpin is free from invaders of Moscow “, announced in a video posted on social media the mayor, Oleksandr Markushyn Russia would withdraw part of its forces from the Kiev region due to the “significant losses” suffered. Ukrainian forces also announced that there is a “clear decrease in the intensity” with which troops move from Russia to Ukraine.
The situation is different a Mariupol which is on the verge of a “humanitarian catastrophe” and must be completely evacuated, said the mayor of the city of southern Ukraine, Vadym Boichenko, stating that about 160,000 people are trapped and without electricity and more than 80% of the buildings of the city was destroyed. In the city of Kharkiv 1,100 buildings were destroyed, Chernihiv is half destroyed. Irpin, Hostomel and Borodjanka were completely razed to the ground.
Russian soldiers used cluster bombs in the Odessa region and in the Kherson region, Kyiv Attorney General Iryna Venediktova denounced, claiming to have evidence.
And 1,099 people were evacuated from the besieged cities of Ukraine through humanitarian corridors. He wrote it in an online post Kyrylo Tymoshenko, number two of the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Among the evacuees today also 586 people by car from Mariupol and 513 by bus from the Luhansk region.
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