Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul have concluded

On March 29 and 30, negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations took place in Istanbul. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech and expressed hope that the meetings in Istanbul would benefit both sides and the region.

Photo: Internet

Turkey positively assesses the progress of the negotiations. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters that Ukraine and Russia are close to consensus on four out of six points of the negotiation process.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin stated that as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Istanbul, the Ministry of Defense decided to reduce military activity in certain areas.

“The Ministry of Defense of Russia, in order to enhance mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations and achieving the ultimate goal of agreeing and signing a treaty, has decided to drastically reduce military activity in the Kyiv and Chernihiv directions,” said Fomin.

According to media reports, the parties proposed the following:

• Medinsky described them as substantive, Deputy Defense Minister Fomin said that negotiations on preparing a treaty regarding Ukraine’s neutrality and non-nuclear status, as well as providing security guarantees to Ukraine, are moving into a practical phase
• Russia is taking two steps towards cooperation: significantly reducing military activity in the Kyiv and Chernihiv directions and proposing to hold a meeting between Putin and Zelensky simultaneously with the initialing of the peace treaty so that the leaders can discuss the details
• Ukrainian negotiator Arachamiya stated that Kyiv presented a new system of security guarantees for Ukraine: the guarantors should be the countries of the UN Security Council, as well as Germany, Canada, Poland, Israel, and Turkey
• Ukraine presented its proposals for the treaty, which will be reported to Putin – and a response will follow.

Some experts believe that these negotiations could mark the beginning of a peace process in Ukraine.

However, leaders of some countries do not trust Putin’s words and expect actual actions to de-escalate the situation.