chief negotiator of Ukraine in peace talks with RussiaDavid ArakhamiaHe assured that Moscow “orally” accepted the main Ukrainian proposals and that kyiv awaits a written confirmation.
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The war has generated millions of displaced people. Photo: Getty Images
- On a television program, David Arakhamia suggested that negotiations to end the conflict had advanced considerably.
“The Russian Federation has given an official response to all the positions, which is that they accept the (Ukrainian) position, except on the issue of Crimea”, annexed by Russia in 2014, assured the chief negotiator.
- He also added that although there was “no official confirmation in writing”, the Russian side said so “orally”.
On the other hand, Arakhamia stated that if it were to be organized a meeting between the Ukrainian presidents, Volodymyr Zelensky, and Russian, Vladimir Putinit would “most likely” take place in Turkey.
President Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoganwho received Russian and Ukrainian delegations in his country this week, “called us and Vladimir Putin” on Friday, saying he would host such a meeting, he revealed.
“We don’t know the date or the place, but we think the place will most likely be Ankara or Istanbul,” Arakhamia explained.
Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24Zelensky has repeatedly asked to meet with Putin. The Ukrainian negotiator stressed that Moscow had agreed during the talks that a referendum on Ukraine’s neutrality would be “the only way out of this situation”.
If the Ukrainians do not accept that status, “we will return to a state of war, perhaps, or to new negotiations,” said the chief negotiator.
The war is not over
This Saturday, Ukraine announced that it had regained control of the entire kyiv region following almost a month of Russian occupation, which left an apocalyptic panorama and macabre pictures such as that of 20 corpses scattered on a street in Bucha, northwest of the capital.
- Russian forces, as announced a few days ago, have reduced their presence in the kyiv and Chernigov regions, following having failed in their attempt to surround the capital.