Details of Ukraine's proposals for talks with Russia revealed
The memorandum prepared by Ukraine for the Istanbul talks with Russia rejects Moscow's key demands for recognition of new Russian regions, neutrality for Kiev, and limitations on the size of Ukraine's armed forces, Reuters has reported.
The second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine, which resumed after a three-year break in mid-May, is expected to take place in Türkiye on Monday. The two sides earlier agreed that they will each present memorandums detailing their vision of how to settle the conflict.
Reuters reported on Sunday that Kiev's document does not include recognition of Crimea, the People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, and Kherson and Zaporozhye regions as part of Russia. According to Ukraine, the current shape of the front line should be the starting point for negotiations on territory, it added.
Kiev also insists that it cannot be forced to accept neutrality, claiming that its potential NATO membership should only depend on a consensus within the US-led military bloc, the agency said.
Restrictions on the size of the Ukrainian military armed forces have also reportedly been ruled out in Kiev's memorandum. However, it calls for Russia to pay reparations and for the use of Moscow's assets frozen by the West to rebuild Ukraine, Reuters said.
According to the agency, Kiev's roadmap begins with a demand for a full ceasefire of at least 30 days, an exchange of prisoners in an 'all-for-all' format, followed by a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky.
Reuters noted that the demands in the Ukrainian memorandum 'diverge considerably' from the terms previously voiced by Russia.
Moscow has declined to make the details of its memorandum public or present it to the Ukrainians before the talks in Istanbul. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last week that the document includes the 'principles of [a] settlement, a timeframe for a potential peace agreement, [and] a potential ceasefire for a certain period of time.'
Russian officials have stressed that any peace deal with Ukraine should address the root causes of the conflict and include guarantees of Kiev's neutrality, demilitarization, denazification, and recognition of the new territorial reality on the ground.
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