Ukraine: "positive" signals with the talks, but kyiv remains on the defensive

Barricade in the streets of Odessa in Ukraine, displaying the French motto "Liberty, equality, fraternity", March 17, 2022. AFP - BULENT KILIC

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2 mins

34 days after the start of the war in Ukraine, a small glimmer of hope has emerged in Turkey, with the premises of a diplomatic breakthrough.

This Tuesday, the belligerents spoke to each other in Istanbul, and for the first time, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, believes that the signals are positive.   

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With our correspondent in Kiev,

Tuesday, in Istanbul, the representatives of the Kremlin announced that they were going to withdraw part of their troops from the regions of kyiv, Chernigiv, Sumy and Kharkiv, to allow dialogue to begin.

In kyiv, it is believed that the Kremlin took this decision because in reality the ongoing Ukrainian counter-offensive seriously threatens the Russian positions in the north of the country. 

For its part, Ukraine has made many concessions, implicitly accepting the principle of non-membership of NATO, but evoking a new security architecture.

It would be an international treaty, ratified by the United States, Great Britain, France, China, Israel, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Canada and Poland, which would guarantee the security and sovereignty of Ukraine.

A mechanism that would also facilitate Ukraine's accession to the European Union.   

►Also read: “Substantial” Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul

Only, in kyiv, these proposals are perceived with suspicion, because Russia would also be integrated into the device, whereas it is precisely it which started this murderous war. 

President Zelensky cautiously welcomed these advances, because on the ground, we observe more a repositioning of Russian forces than a withdrawal, and in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, around kyiv, the guns continued to rumble.

I don't believe in these negotiations.

What I understand is that their military plans failed.

They failed to take kyiv.

It is possible that they are doing all this in order to regain their strength to hit even harder afterwards.

I just don't trust Russians

Odessa population skeptical of talks

Anastasia Becchio Boris Vichith

In Odessa, in a hall transformed into a center of resistance, a Ukrainian flag.

© RFI - Boris Vichith

Your questions about the war in Ukraine © RFI

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