Zelensky dismisses Russia's peace memorandum
Russian and Ukrainian delegations exchanged their respective roadmaps for peace at their second meeting in a month, in Istanbul on Monday. In its proposal, Moscow proposed that Ukraine recognizes the loss of five of its former regions that joined Russia in public referendums, withdraws its forces from them, commit to neutrality, and limit its own military capabilities.
Russia also floated a 'package proposal' for a ceasefire, in which Kiev would halt deploying its troops, suspend mobilisation, stop foreign weapons shipments, and hold a presidential election.
Zelensky rejected the peace memorandum out of hand. 'This is an ultimatum, and it will not be taken seriously by the Ukrainian side… This memorandum is a misunderstanding,' he said on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian leader claimed that any territorial concessions to Russia would contravene Ukraine's constitution.
Russia's lead negotiator at the Istanbul talks, Vladimir Medinsky, defended the memorandum, describing it as an opportunity to end the conflict. 'This is not an ultimatum. It's a proposal that will truly allow for achieving real peace — or at least a ceasefire — and make a huge step towards achieving long-term peace,' he said.
Zelensky also criticized the diplomatic process itself, saying, 'To continue diplomatic meetings in Istanbul at a level that decides nothing — it's meaningless.'
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, however, suggested that Zelensky dismissed the outcome of the talks because they were focused not on financial aid or weapons supplies, but on people.
Zakharova was referring to Moscow and Kiev's agreement to carry the largest prisoner exchange to date, which is expected to take place this weekend and involved 1,200 people on each side.
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