[NTDTV, Beijing, March 29, 2022]On the 29th, Russia and Ukraine negotiated again in Turkey. Russia claimed progress and suspended some military operations. According to media sources, Russia has abandoned many demands, including the demilitarization of Ukraine, except to remain in NATO.
Regarding the Ukrainian territorial issue, neither side has made any concessions, and further negotiations are still to be conducted.
Negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey have ended on the 29th. The Russian military said it would significantly reduce its military operations in Kyiv and around the northern city of Chernihiv in light of progress in the talks.
The Turkish Foreign Minister also said that significant progress has been made in the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations. He also said that this war must end.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces also posted on Facebook that some troops were withdrawing from Kyiv and Chernihiv because the Russian army did not achieve its offensive goals, but there was still a high risk of Russian forces attacking military and civilian infrastructure.
In fact, the Russian offensive in northern areas such as Kyiv has been stalled for many days. The Ukrainian army also launched a counterattack in some areas, announcing the retake of many lost territories. But the Russian shelling of the southern city of Mariupol continued.
The “Financial Times” reported earlier, citing four anonymous sources, that in this negotiation, the Russian side made a number of concessions, including no longer demanding Ukraine’s “demilitarization”, the so-called “denazification” and the protection of the Russian language. And promised that as long as Ukraine does not seek to join NATO, Russia can allow it to join the European Union.
Under the draft ceasefire agreement, Russia demanded that Ukraine renounce its membership in NATO and not develop nuclear weapons or allow foreign countries to set up military bases. In exchange, Ukraine asked the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Israel and Turkey to make promises similar to Article 5 of the NATO Charter – if Ukraine were attacked, they would come to the rescue.
Those sponsoring countries have not agreed to maintain Ukraine’s security, the people said. But Kyiv negotiators also said that “there is no objection at present.”
The source said that the biggest crux of the negotiations – the territorial issues of Udon and Crimea, will be left to the two presidents Putin and Zelensky to discuss in the future.
Zelensky has said that a ceasefire agreement between the two sides needs to be passed by a referendum in Ukraine.
Russian troops are in trouble on multiple fronts in Ukraine. A few days ago, the Russian military announced that “the objectives of the first phase of military operations have been roughly achieved” and will turn to “liberate” the Donbas region in eastern Uruguay. Some Russian analysts pointed out that this may be a harbinger of Russia’s claim to save face and its readiness to make concessions.
But Ukraine and some Western supporters remain skeptical of Russia’s intentions, worried that the Russian side will use the negotiation as a smoke bomb and take the opportunity to restart the offensive. The Financial Times, citing a person familiar with the negotiations, said Ukraine was concerned that Russia was changing its stance almost every day.
(Comprehensive report by reporter Jing Zhongming/responsible editor: Lin Qing)
URL of this article: https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2022/03/29/a103386627.html
