“It must be guaranteed by a third party… It is decided through a referendum.”
Russia’s demand for ‘demilitarization’: “If you persist, we won’t negotiate”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he wants to compromise with Russia over the Donbass issue, which has been occupied by pro-Russian separatist rebels, ahead of the fifth round of negotiations with Russia.
According to AFP news agency, President Zelensky said this in a video interview conducted in Russian with a Russian journalist on the 27th (local time). This is a statement that can be interpreted as a step back from the previous position that Russia could not make concessions on territorial issues such as Crimea and Donbas, which Russia annexed in 2014.
Zelensky said Ukraine’s neutral status could also be discussed in negotiations with Russia. He emphasized, however, that “the neutralization of Ukraine must be guaranteed by a third party and must be decided through a referendum.” “I am ready to discuss security guarantees, neutralization and non-nuclear state status,” he added. “This is the most important point in the negotiations.” “The issue of allowing the use of Russian language in Ukraine will also be discussed in negotiations,” he said. However, he made it clear that he could not accept the demilitarization of Ukraine that Russia was demanding, saying, “If we continue to insist on demilitarizing, we will not negotiate.”
“Russia should know the truth,” Zelensky said to Russian journalists. “We have to come to an agreement with the President of the Russian Federation,” he said.
Reuters reported on the same day that Russia and Ukraine agreed to hold a fifth round of peace negotiations in Turkey. However, the two sides have different announcements about the date of the start of the negotiations.
According to Reuters, David Harahamiya, leader of the ruling party, a member of the Ukrainian negotiating delegation, said on social media that “face-to-face negotiations will be held in Turkey from the 28th to the 30th.” According to the TAS news agency, President Vladimir Medinsky, who leads the Russian side’s negotiating delegation, also said on social media that “offline talks with the Ukrainian delegation will be held from the 29th to the 30th.” “There was a videoconference with the Ukrainian side today,” Medinsky said.
Turkey’s presidential office later issued a statement saying, “Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone today, and the two leaders agreed that the Russian-Ukrainian negotiators would hold talks in Istanbul.” The Turkish presidential office did not disclose a specific start date, but Ibrahim Karn, a spokesman for the Turkish presidential office, said in an interview with CNN in the United States that “the talks will begin on Tuesday (29th).”
