Russia has vowed to reduce attacks in Kiev after Turkey meets Ukraine

Russia and Ukraine resumed face-to-face talks in Turkey on Tuesday. The two delegations met at the Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul, the main purpose of which was a ceasefire agreement. The day ended after a three-hour meeting, after which Russia announced its commitment to reduce attacks on Kiev and northern Ukraine, and the Ukrainian delegation asked that several powers guarantee its security in exchange for refusing to join NATO.

According to the Turkish news agency Anadolu, Russia has promised to significantly reduce “military activity in Kyiv, the city of Chernigov and northern Ukraine” after the last round of talks in Istanbul.

Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said in a statement compiled by the AP that the purpose of this partial withdrawal was to “increase mutual trust” while ceasefire talks are under way. Fomin said the move was made by bringing the talks on “neutrality and non-nuclear status” to a “practical level” in addition to granting Ukraine “security guarantees”.

In addition, the chief negotiator of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, acknowledged “substantial” progress and said he was ready to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin after the approval of the draft peace agreement, which was reiterated. Ukraine many times.

Zelenski’s adviser, Mialo Podoliak, also appeared before the Turkish media to report on progress. Podoliak said that during the talks they asked several countries to be Ukraine’s security guarantors in a possible peace agreement.

This request is tantamount to refusing Ukraine to join NATO, as requested by Russia. Ukraine’s idea is for several states to make a firm commitment to intervene in the event of a new attack on Ukraine.

Podoliak also added that talks would continue for the next two weeks and confirmed that a possible meeting between Putin and Zelensky would be possible when there was a peace project.

“We want an international mechanism that works like Article 5 of NATO,” the head of the Ukrainian delegation, Davit Arahamia, told a news conference in Istanbul.

Ukraine wants the signatures of these countries to imply that in the event of an attack or aggression on Ukraine, Kiev can request consultations within three days and, if the issue is not resolved through diplomatic channels, it will have military assistance, including Ukrainian Vice President Kirill Tymoshenko announced on Telegram Prohibited zone.

According to Tymoshenko, the guarantees will include members of the UN Security Council (United Kingdom, China, Russia, the United States and France), along with Turkey, Germany, Canada, Italy, Poland and Israel. Ukraine is ready for other countries to join this possible agreement.

In addition, Ukraine requires these countries to guarantee entry into the EU. According to the Financial Times, Moscow will accept Ukraine as part of the European Union if it does not join NATO.

Donbass and Crimea, beyond these negotiations

Another member of the delegation, Alexander Chali, said that in addition to remaining neutral and refusing to join NATO, Ukraine also agreed not to “host foreign bases on its territory” or nuclear weapons.

According to Tymoshenko and Podolyak, the status of Crimea and Donbass will be discussed separately. In any case, the proposal “does not envisage the use of Ukrainian force to liberate these territories,” said Zelensky’s spokesman, who added that the situation would be negotiated with Russia “for 15 years.”

Thus, Ukraine refuses to rebuild the Crimean peninsula militarily, where the security guarantees with the Donbas region, which it intends to sign with various forces, do not apply.

This is the first time they have met face to face since March 10 last year, when the last meeting ended in person, as well as in Turkey, without any agreement. Since then and until now, the talks are held only by video conference.

Abramovich reappears in Istanbul after receiving information about his poisoning

Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich is also in Istanbul, according to RIA Novosti, which traveled to Turkey as a mediator in the midst of secrecy over possible symptoms of poisoning in early March.

Ahead of today’s talks in Istanbul, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba advised those present at the talks to “eat nothing and not drink or touch the surface,” the BBC reported.

Possible poisoning was revealed this Monday by The Wall Street Journal and research group Bellingcat, who said Abramovich and several Ukrainian negotiators involved in talks with Moscow presented with symptoms of poisoning after meeting in Kyiv.

While the WSJ and Bellingcat have reaffirmed their information, which they claim has been verified by various sources, a U.S. government source has questioned whether this poison. According to Reuters, the source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the intelligence services believed that the symptoms were caused by “environmental factors” and “not poison”.

The Kremlin also opposed this information. Russia denies reports of poison use and claims they are “false” and “part of an information war,” Reuters reported.