Russian and Ukrainian negotiators confirmed this Sunday the beginning of a new round of face-to-face peace negotiations at the beginning of next week to end the conflict unleashed by the Russian invasion of the country on February 24.
Both parties, however, have given different information about the exact celebration of the same.
The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinski, has confirmed that the meeting will take place from Tuesday, March 29 to Wednesday, March 30, as announced on his messaging channel on the Telegram platform.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian negotiator David Arajamia has indicated that the talks will begin tomorrow, Monday, and even specifies Turkey as the venue for the meeting, as reported on Facebook.
It has subsequently been Turkey that has confirmed that the appointment will be on Tuesday in Istanbul. The Turkish Presidency has reported on the meeting in an official statement in which it reports a telephone conversation between the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who “agreed that the meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations will be held In Estambul”.
A Turkish presidential spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, has explained in statements to CNN that the meeting will be next Tuesday.
The negotiations continue at a difficult time. This Friday, Russia expressed its pessimism about the evolution of talks now practically stalled, in its opinion, due to the Ukrainian refusal to accept a “comprehensive” treaty translated into constant attempts by kyiv to delay the meetings.
To this we must add that Ukraine has in no way shown willingness to negotiate the status of Crimea or Donbas, territories controlled by Russia and occupied according to kyiv, and the negotiations on a possible partial disarmament of the Ukrainian Army do not seem to show progress either, or on the renunciation of Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO, as demanded by Moscow.
Medinski has reiterated that Russia asks for “security guarantees, demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine”, as well as the recognition of Crimea and the separatist regions of Donbas, in the east of the country. “Without consideration of these aspects,” he added, “the conclusion of an agreement is unlikely.”
Instead, Russia notes that Ukraine “is primarily concerned with obtaining security guarantees from third powers in case Ukraine does not join NATO,” which it described as “a completely understandable position.”
However, the negotiator explained that precisely because of these negotiations, the Ukrainians “are not in a hurry because they believe that time is running in their favor.” While both sides seem to be getting closer on “side issues,” he has concluded, “as far as the main political issues are concerned, we’re not getting anywhere.”