Russian and Ukrainian delegations will meet in Turkey from Monday to Wednesday for a new round of face-to-face negotiations, one of the Ukrainian negotiators, David Arakhamia, announced on Sunday. The chief negotiator on the Russian side, Vladimir Medinski, quoted by Russian agencies, also announced the holding of a new round of talks, but said that they would take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, without specifying the place.
“During discussions today by videoconference, it was decided to hold the next face-to-face round in Turkey from March 28 to 30,” David Arakhamia said on his Facebook page.
A diplomatic effort emanating from Ankara
A face-to-face Russian-Ukrainian negotiation session had already taken place on March 10 in Turkey, in Antalya, at the level of foreign ministers and at the invitation of Ankara, without leading to concrete progress concerning the war in Ukraine. Since then, the discussions have continued by videoconference, deemed “difficult” by both camps. “The negotiation process is very difficult,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba said on Friday.
He had denied any “consensus” with Moscow, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had assured a little earlier that Russia and Ukraine agreed on four out of six negotiating points. “There is no consensus with Russia on the four points mentioned by the President of Turkey,” said Dmytro Kouleba, however welcoming “diplomatic efforts” by Ankara to end the war.
Talks that are “on the spot”
Vladimir Medinski had estimated on Friday that the talks were stalling on important points. “Positions are converging on secondary points. But on the main political (issues) we are treading water,” he said, quoted by Russian news agencies.
He added that Moscow insisted on signing a “comprehensive treaty” taking into account its demands for neutrality, demilitarization and “denazification” of Ukraine, as well as recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea and independence. of the two pro-Russian separatist “republics” of Donbass.