The positions only converge on “secondary points”, according to the chief Russian negotiator.
The talks between Russia and Ukraine make “on the spoton the main points, lamented the chief negotiator for Moscow on Friday, while underlining a rapprochement on less important aspects. On the Ukrainian side, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba called them “very difficult“.
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“The positions converge on the secondary points. But on the main political (issues), we are treading water“, declared Vladimir Medinski, quoted by the Russian press agencies. He added that Moscow was insisting on signing a “comprehensive treatise» taking into account its requirements of neutrality, demilitarization and «denazificationof Ukraine, as well as the recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea and the independence of the tworepublicspro-Russian separatists from Donbass. According to Vladimir Medinsky, Kyiv “is mainly worried about obtaining security guarantees from third powers in case Ukraine cannot join NATO“, a position “completely understandable“.
Almost daily Russian-Ukrainian discussions
For his part, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy said in a statement: “The negotiation process is very difficult“, rejecting everything”consensuswith Moscow at this point. Earlier in the day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan assured that Russia and Ukraine agreed on four out of six negotiating points.
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After having started with physical meetings between delegations, the talks between Russia and Ukraine are now taking place by videoconference on an almost daily basis. The two camps expressed their optimism for a time as to a positive outcome of these discussions, before noting their differences in recent days.