The Kremlin dashed hopes for a breakthrough following yesterday’s peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegates in Istanbul.
“We cannot say that there was anything very promising or any breakthroughs,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that Moscow considers it positive that Kyiv has begun to put its demands in writing.
“We diligently avoid statements on issues discussed in the talks, because we believe that negotiations should take place in silence,” he said.
The Kremlin representative did not comment on Kyiv’s proposals on the list of countries – guarantors of a possible agreement, as well as to resolve the issue of Crimea and Donbass peacefully.
“We will not invade Crimea, it is part of the Russian Federation,” Peskov ironically.
He stressed that Russia would not negotiate the status of the Crimean peninsula.
Ukrainian negotiators said on Tuesday they were proposing lengthy talks on the status of Crimea and Sevastopol, promising not to use military force or enter into military alliances during that time.
Following talks in Istanbul that Moscow’s chief negotiator described as “meaningful,” Russia said it would significantly reduce its military activity near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the city of Chernihiv. But the Ukrainian authorities doubt that, probably, we are talking about the rotation of individual units and the goal is to deceive the enemy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that although the first signs of the talks in Istanbul were positive, they did not muffle the explosions of Russian shells.
The Ukrainian military claims that Russian troops bombed Chernihiv this morning.
“Ukraine will continue to participate in the negotiation process. We expect to achieve real security for us, for our sovereignty, for our people. Russian troops must leave the occupied territories. The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine must be guaranteed. Compromise on these issues is impossible. and will not be,” BNR quotes Volodymyr Zelensky.
For the first time, Ukraine has put forward concrete proposals providing for a neutral status in exchange for security guarantees similar to NATO Article 5 on collective defence. Poland, Israel, Turkey and Canada could be potential security guarantors.