Zelenski agrees to “apply” for Donbass status ahead of new round of talks in Turkey

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Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are returning to the table in Turkey. Just weeks after the telematic talks, the Turkish government announced that both delegations were still sitting face to face in Istanbul seeking a long-awaited ceasefire.

Several more details about this meeting are known at this time. Although the office of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan initially said the delegations “will gather in Istanbul from March 28 to 30”, the meeting will not start until Tuesday, as both sides have confirmed.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov assured that the delegations would leave for Turkey today and would not be ready to start talks until Tuesday.

Similarly, Zelensky’s party spokeswoman Yulia Palichuk told the Telegram that talks would begin at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 29, and quoted parliamentary group leader Davit Arakhamia as saying the delay was due. “On logistical problems.”

A source close to the government in Ankara, who requested anonymity, explained to Efe that “in order to avoid leaking information about these meetings, information about the place and time has not been shared. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.

The last face-to-face meeting between the two delegations took place in Turkey, where Russian and Ukrainian Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov and Dmitry Kuleba met on March 10 in Antalya. A meeting that ended without an agreement.

The positions of both countries were highlighted through numerous interviews with speakers and negotiators, both Russian and Ukrainian. This weekend, it was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky who gave a series of interviews to various media outlets in which he reiterated what the red lines are for Ukraine and where they should give up in order to achieve peace. Agreement.

One of the conditions put forward by Zelensky is that Russia must withdraw its troops from Ukraine before signing any document. The President of Ukraine reiterates his readiness to renounce NATO membership (one of Russia’s claims), thus confirming that he is receiving a neutral status. In return, he calls for security guarantees, which will be signed by several “guarantors” of countries that, in the event of a new attack on Ukraine, pledge to intervene.

Zelensky said it was “impossible” for UK leaders Boris Johnson; Joe Biden from America; From Poland, Andrzej Duda; And Recep Tayyip Erdogan from Turkey will sign any document as a guarantee before the war. “We need an agreement with President Putin. “The guarantees will not sign anything if there are troops,” he said in an interview with several independent Russian media outlets, including the portal Meduza (Latvia) and journalists from the banned television station Dozhd.

Once the troops withdraw and the peace agreement is signed, the guarantees that Zelensky is seeking will have Ukraine change its constitution, according to its president, as it addresses the state’s aspirations for NATO membership.

Zelensky said a referendum would be held first because “only the people can decide that such status and such guarantees can be granted,” he said, which could take place “in a few months” and only outside Russian troops. The country, because otherwise “no one will recognize the result.”

There will then be changes to the constitution, a process that could take “at least a year” between ratification in parliament and ratification of guarantor countries in their own parliaments.

Crimea and Donbass

As for Russia’s demand that Ukraine recognize the Crimean peninsula as part of Russia and the independence of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, Zelensky said it was an issue that “must be resolved and resolved.”

“I say this is an obligation. “Let’s go back to before it all starts (February 24) and try to resolve the difficult issue of Donbass,” he said.

The area has been experiencing an armed conflict between pro-Russian militias and the Ukrainian army since April 2014, which, according to the United Nations, killed more than 14,000 people on both sides, both military and civilian, before Russia invaded Ukraine.

In another interview with The Economist, Zelensky described Ukraine’s victory as “saving as many people as possible.” “Our land is important, yes, but in the end it is just territory,” he said, adding that it could be a “temporary” victory and “may not solve all problems.”

In this regard, he assured that if he sits down to negotiate with Putin, there may be issues that need to be set aside. We can talk about everything, but we may not be able to commit to everything. Let’s go step by step. We need to understand each other. “Maybe if we can not find a solution, we will agree not to argue about it now.”

In an interview with independent Russian media, he pointed to another demand of Russia, which is the recognition of Russian as the official language in Ukraine. In this regard, he also agreed to be able to reach an agreement on the formula of “mutual respect for the languages ​​of citizens of neighboring countries.”

“I want to sign all the neighboring countries. I am interested in Russia, Hungary, Poland … Romania. “We have many minorities, nationalities, and this agreement should be enough to respect certain languages ​​in our country,” he said.

Source: El Diario

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