The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said the talks would resume on Monday, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, Medinsky says a draft peace agreement is not ready for the summit.
Medinsky also says that Russia’s position on Crimea and Donbass has not changed.
The two sides have held several talks since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, but this has not led to any breakthrough in the negotiations and the two sides still differ sharply on the territorial issue.
– perfect storm
We disagree on the peace process
Medinsky says Ukraine is now beginning to show a more realistic approach to peace talks.
He says Ukraine has agreed to be neutral, not to have nuclear weapons, and not to join a military bloc, like NATO.
However, there is no progress so far regarding the issue of Crimea and the two Donbass regions, which Vladimir Putin declared independence in February, Medinsky notes.
Odessa: Explosion Reports
Medinsky notes that he is not as optimistic as Ukrainian negotiator David Arakamia, who told Ukrainian television on Sunday that the draft peace agreement was so comprehensive that a peace process could begin between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to Reuters.
“Unfortunately, I’m not as optimistic as Arakhamiya,” Medinsky says.
– Ukrainian diplomats and military experts lag far behind when they assert that peace negotiations can begin when the draft peace agreement already has a political agreement, he continues.
– Long Distances
The Defense School’s Lieutenant Colonel, Geir Hagen Carlsen, told Dagbladet that the two sides are certainly in contact with each other, but they still see “the distance between the two parties is too great”.
If you start to delve into assumptions and requirements, you’ll quickly see that there may be more distance between the two than you can get, Karlsen tells Dagbladet.
He explained that all parties in the peace negotiations have an interest in appearing positive towards the draft negotiations.
– But in the end there will be no cease-fire between Putin and Zelensky until they both agree to do so, he says and adds:
So far, I think it’s a bit optimistic that we can expect a ceasefire now.
allegations of persecution
Medinsky confirmed that the talks between the two parties will continue on Monday via video conference.
Putin stated that a “special military operation” in Ukraine is necessary because the United States is using Ukraine to threaten Russia.
Talk about terrorism all the time
Therefore, Moscow had to respond to the persecution of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine.
Ukraine has rejected Putin’s allegations of persecution, saying Russia is fighting an unjustified war of aggression.
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