'Substantial' Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul

In this photo provided by the Turkish Presidency, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech to welcome Russian and Ukrainian delegations ahead of their talks, in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, March 29, 2022. AP

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2 mins

After several meetings in Belarus and by videoconference, a new session of talks between Ukraine and Russia was held this Tuesday, March 29 in Istanbul, Turkey.

The exchanges will ultimately not continue tomorrow, contrary to what had been envisaged.

But this is not a bad sign: the two parties have indeed reported progress after their meeting.

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With our correspondent in Istanbul

,

Anne Andlauer

The discussions in Istanbul, which lasted four hours interspersed with breaks, above all enabled Ukraine to present in detail to Russia the security guarantees it intends to obtain in exchange for a form of neutrality - of its renunciation of joining NATO and harboring foreign troops on its soil.

At the end of the meeting, the Ukrainian negotiators evoked a mechanism which would resemble that triggered by article 5 of the NATO treaty in the event of aggression by one of its members.

An international mechanism that would allow, among other things, in the event of an attack on Ukraine and the failure of a rapid diplomatic solution, guarantor countries to help the country to defend itself.

This is kyiv's proposal, which now says it is waiting for a response from Moscow.

The Russian side, meanwhile, also reported progress, describing the exchanges as "

substantial

".

First concrete effect: to give dialogue a chance, Russia announced that it would "

radically

" reduce its military activity in the regions of Kiev and Cherniguiv.

Finally, the Turkish Foreign Minister, host of the meeting, welcomed the outcome of these talks.

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said the negotiations today had seen their most "

 significant

 " progress since the start of the war.

He also said he expects the heads of Russian and Ukrainian diplomacy to meet very soon.

All of our daily, live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

© FMM Graphic Studio

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  • Volodymyr Zelensky

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