“24-48 hours”: Russia came up with a new proposal in the Istanbul / Ukraine negotiations insists on a Zelenski – Putin meeting
Russia and Ukraine ended on Wednesday night the third round of direct negotiations in Istanbul, in which they found the “distance” between their positions in terms of cessation of war and eventually reaching an agreement on a new exchange of prisoners, AFP reports.
After only one hour of discussions at Ciragan Palace, the negotiators found that their respective “positions” were “quite distant from each other,” said Vladimir Medinski, the head of the Russian delegation, in a press statement.
Previously on Wednesday, the Kremlin had already shattered the hopes of reaching an agreement to end the conflict. “No one expects an easy road. Of course, it will be a very complicated discussion,” said the spokesman of the Russian Presidency, Dmitri Peskov, repeating that the two -part proposals are “diametrically opposed”.
Russia has proposed short armistice short
The only concrete measure: the negotiators agreed on a new exchange of 1,200 prisoners on each side, according to Vladimir Medinski, as has already happened several times.
Moscow also proposed to Kiev to return 3,000 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers.
Mendinski also continued, Russia also proposed a series of short armies of “24-48 hours” on the front, so that the two armies could recover the dead and the wounded. Ukraine says he wants an immediate and longer -term fire.
Kiev insists on a Zelenski – Putin meeting
Ukraine suggested, in turn, a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodimir Zelenski until the end of August, possibly in the presence of American and Turkish presidents, according to the Kiev negotiator, Roustem Oumerov.
Ukraine and Zelenski have also insisted in the past for such a meeting at the highest level to reach a solution to closing the war.
In the preamble to these negotiations, a source of the delegation sent by Kiev told AFP that he hopes for a “constructive position” from Russia and that he will give up his “ultimatums”.
These direct discussions took place again following the pressures exerted by US President Donald Trump, who, in mid -July, granted Moscow 50 days to reach an agreement with Ukraine, under the sanction of severe sanctions.
Kiev and his Western allies accuse the Kremlin of blocking negotiations by maintaining maximum requests, while the Russian army, more and better equipped, continues the front attacks, where they gain ground every day.
On Wednesday, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed the conquest of a new village, Varatchyne, in the Ukrainian region (northeast), where, during the night, Russian drone attacks caused electricity interruptions for over 220,000 people.
Positions seem irreconcilable
The positions of the two camps currently seem irreconcilable. Like Wednesday evening, the discussions in Istanbul in May and June have only led to agreements on the exchange of prisoners and bodies of the killed soldiers.
According to the spokesman of the Russian Presidency, Dmitri Peskov, the negotiations were to focus mainly on the “Memorandums” changed in June by the two camps and including their peace proposals.
Kiev, in turn, wanted to focus on a new exchange of prisoners, the repatriation of Ukrainian children in Russia and the preparation of a meeting between Putin and Zelenski.
Moscow asks Ukraine to transfer four partially occupied regions of the east and south of its territory, in addition to Crimea annexed in 2014, to give up Western weapons and any accession to NATO.
Unacceptable conditions for Kiev, who wants to withdraw Russian troops and security guarantees from the West, including continuation of weapons and a European contingent, which Russia opposes.
Ukraine also demands, together with its European allies, a 30 -day armistice, which the Russians, whose forces have the advantage on the ground, refuse.
