[우크라 침공] The 4th peace negotiations resume on the 16th… “There is room for compromise”

Ukrainian side: “Russia is no longer demanding surrender… Constructive progress”

(Istanbul = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Seung-wook = Russia and Ukraine have agreed to continue the fourth round of peace negotiations for three days in a row.

“The fourth round of negotiations will continue tomorrow (16th),” said Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine, who leads the negotiating delegation on the Ukrainian side.

“We will continue tomorrow,” Podolyak said. “It is a very difficult and persistent negotiation process.”

“There are fundamental contradictions, but there is certainly room for compromise,” he added.

The remarks are interpreted as narrowing the differences between Russia and Ukraine, which have shown sharp differences in their positions, to some extent.

“The negotiations with Russia have become more constructive,” said Ihor Zovkva, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office.

“The Russian side is no longer asking Ukraine to surrender,” Zovkva said. “Our delegation felt a positive atmosphere after the meeting.”

“To make even greater progress, the presidents of both countries need to meet with each other,” he added.

The two sides started the fourth peace negotiations in the form of a videoconference the day before, but after about two hours, the talks resumed after a temporary hiatus.

The Russian and Ukrainian delegations sat down at the negotiating table on the 28th of last month and the 3rd and 7th of this month, but no results were obtained except for the evacuation of civilians through humanitarian channels.

In particular, the two sides showed a significant difference in their positions over the territorial issue.

Ukraine is demanding an immediate cessation of hostilities on the Russian side and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Crimea and Donbas.

However, Russia is demanding the demilitarization of Ukraine, a stipulation that it does not join the alliance, and the recognition of the independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic, established by pro-Russian rebels in the Donbas region.

Ukraine has strongly opposed Russia’s demand, saying it is in effect forced to surrender.

However, there are observations that the difference between the two sides may have narrowed somewhat as Ukraine acknowledged that it was virtually impossible to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, “I know it is impossible to join NATO” at a meeting of the leaders of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) in London.

“We’ve been hearing that NATO doors are open for years, but we’ve already been told that we can’t join NATO,” he added.