China News Agency, Moscow, March 29th Telegram: Russia-Ukraine Negotiations, One Step Forward
China News Agency reporter Zhang Shuo Tian Bing
On the 29th local time, the Russian and Ukrainian negotiating delegations held a new round of face-to-face negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city. This is the first time that the two delegations have conducted offline negotiations outside Belarus.
According to foreign media, the two sides made "constructive" progress in the negotiation process and took a step towards each other.
A 'most advanced' negotiation
After the negotiation that day, Russia and Ukraine held a press conference on the content of the negotiation.
Mejinsky, head of the Russian delegation and assistant to the Russian president, said that the negotiations between the two sides were very constructive and that Russia had obtained a "clear position" from the Ukrainian side. The relevant content will be reported to President Vladimir Putin and will respond later.
According to reports, Uzbekistan's written proposal mainly includes: it will confirm that it will become a permanent neutral and non-nuclear country under the protection of international law, and give up the establishment of foreign military bases and foreign troops on its territory.
Ukraine is not allowed to conduct military exercises without consulting with Russia and security countries.
Russia must not oppose Ukraine's accession to the EU, etc.
According to Mekinsky, Russia is taking military and political steps to ease the conflict with Ukraine.
In order to create the necessary conditions for further negotiations and achieve the ultimate goal, the Russian side has decided to significantly reduce its military operations in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv; according to the plan proposed by the Russian side, the meeting between the heads of state of Russia and Ukraine can be held while the foreign ministers of the two countries initially signed the agreement. .
Ukrainian news agency quoted Podoljak, adviser to the chief of the Ukrainian President’s Office, as saying that the two sides had in-depth consultations on several important issues, the key being to reach an agreement on Ukraine’s international security guarantee; the second issue is a ceasefire to resolve humanitarian issues question.
Podoljak said that the date of the next round of negotiations will be decided after further consultations by the working group and Russia's reply to the Ukrainian proposal.
In addition, issues related to the Donbas region will be discussed within the framework of the talks between the heads of state of Ukraine and Russia.
He also revealed that the Ukrainian side proposed that, as a separate clause for international security guarantees, Ukraine and Russia should keep their existing positions unchanged for 15 years, so that the two sides could negotiate on the status of Crimea and Sevastopol; during this period, Ukraine and Russia will not use any military or force to resolve the Crimea issue.
Regarding the current round of contacts between Russia and Ukraine, Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu believes that the negotiations have made "the most meaningful progress so far."
Earlier in the day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a meeting with negotiators from both sides that the negotiations have now entered a period where "concrete results must be achieved".
He said that if the two sides make progress in the negotiations, it will make the next stage of contact between Russian and Ukrainian leaders possible.
Two "firsts" attract attention
This round of negotiations lasted nearly 4 hours and was held behind closed doors.
When the delegations of the two sides arrived at the negotiation site, the media cameras did not capture the handshake of the members of the delegations from both sides.
In the reports of Russian and Ukrainian media, there are two "firsts" in this round of negotiations that deserve attention.
Before the talks, Mejinsky had an 80-minute one-on-one meeting with Alahamia, a member of the Ukrainian delegation and the chairman of the parliamentary group of the Ukrainian People's Servant Party, which had not appeared in previous rounds of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
This round of negotiation takes place at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul. This is the first time that the Russian-Ukrainian delegation has conducted offline negotiations outside of Belarus.
"In a sense, this is a concession to Ukraine." According to Kortunov, director-general of the Russian International Affairs Committee, the choice of a negotiating venue needs to consider the level of acceptance by both parties.
"The previous three rounds of negotiations were held in Belarus. Ukraine is not satisfied with this. It believes that the relationship between (Russia and Belarus) is too close, which puts Ukraine in an unsafe position. In addition, Turkey has repeatedly expressed its willingness to promote Russia and Ukraine. The reconciliation attitude has made Turkey the venue for this round of negotiations.”
In addition, the media noted that Russian billionaire Abramovich was also present when Erdogan welcomed the Russian-Ukrainian negotiators at the Dolmabahce Palace.
In this regard, the Russian presidential press secretary Peskov said that Abramovich did participate in ensuring certain contacts between Russia and Ukraine, but he was not an official member of the delegation.
And Abramovich's participation was agreed upon by both parties.
Three major issues still to be worked on
The media commented here that Russia and Ukraine have achieved a certain degree of "breakthrough" in this negotiation and have "taken a step towards each other".
Since the Russian army launched a special military operation in Ukraine, the two sides have conducted several rounds of negotiations, and the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers have also had direct contact.
Although the two sides have converged on some issues, there are still differences or uncertainties on some major issues.
The Ukrainian delegation offered not to use force during the negotiations.
The Russian side announced on the same day that it decided to significantly reduce its military operations in Ukraine, but at the same time emphasized that the move was only to "de-escalate the military situation" rather than "cease fire."
Alahamia said after the talks that Uzbekistan insists that the security mechanism should be an international agreement signed and ratified by all security guarantee countries.
The Ukrainian side expressed the hope that many countries, including Turkey, Germany, Canada, Poland, and Israel, will become its security guarantors, and the Ukrainian-Russian agreement will be signed together with the security guarantors.
However, Russia and Ukraine have not yet reached an agreement on the issue of a security guarantee state.
The Russian side also said that Ukraine's proposal on security guarantees "does not apply to the Crimea and Donbas regions."
Mekinsky said that the Ukrainian proposal expounded its own position, but it did not conform to Russia's position.
In addition, NATO members are divided over the need for additional arms supplies to Ukraine and the need to negotiate with Putin.
France and Germany warned against hasty action against Russia, stressing that the first priority is a ceasefire, so words or actions cannot make the situation worse.
Other NATO members believe that the dialogue between France, Germany and Russia will be counterproductive and will indirectly help Russia.
US Secretary of State Blinken's statement on the 29th is quite meaningful.
He said that he did not see the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine "moving forward in an effective way", at least he did not see any sign of sincerity on the Russian side.
The U.S. side will let Ukraine “judgment by itself” whether there has been real progress in the Russia-Ukraine negotiations and whether Moscow is sincere.
(over)