Russia sought agreement on the topics on which consensus was previously reached in Istanbul, Medinsky said. So far, he continued, there is a long work to be done on the draft agreement between Russia and Ukraine
Vladimir Medinsky
There is a lot of work to be done on the draft agreement between Russia and Ukraine, the military and diplomatic services of Kiev are still far behind the implementation of those agreements that have already been reached at the political level, the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, told Interfax.
“Regarding the readiness of the draft agreement for the summit,” unfortunately, the optimism of [member of the delegation of Ukraine David] I don’t share the Arahamii,” Medinsky said.
He recalled that Arakhamiya stated that the Russian delegation agreed with the proposals of the Ukrainian side on all issues except Crimea. Medinsky stated that the previously agreed positions— Ukraine’s refusal to deploy nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction, join military blocs, deploy foreign troops andoffensive missile weapons and Kiev’s consent to conduct exercises with the participation of foreign troops only with the consent of the guarantors (including Russia)All this was achieved at a meeting in Istanbul. The parties also pre-agreed on a system of international security guarantees for neutral Ukraine, he added.
“This, in fact, is what Russia has been persistently and consistently striving for since 2014,” Medinsky said.We understand that Arakhamiya is addressing his audience, and if he calls all this the Ukrainian position, then we are not sorry. He added that Moscow’s position on Donbass and Crimea remains unchanged.
Medinsky also said that the delegations of Moscow and Kiev continued negotiations on April 1. “The work went on all day yesterday, and today it continued both at the level of heads of delegations and experts,” he said. According to him, the parties will continue contacts on Monday, April 4.
So Medinsky commented on the statement of Arahamiya, which he made a day earlier on the air of the Ukrainian TV channel “1 +1”. He said that the Russian delegation at the talks in video format agreed with all Ukraine’s proposals to resolve the crisis, except for the issue of Crimea. Arakhamiya noted that Moscow’s representatives voiced this position verbally, Kiev is waiting for written confirmation.
He added that the working groups communicate daily in an online format, and official delegations negotiate every two days. In addition, a member of the Ukrainian delegation continued, diplomats and lawyers in one of the working groups are working on a draft final document.
The last time the delegations of Moscow and Kiev met in person on March 29, the negotiations took place at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul. Ukrainian representatives conveyed to their Russian colleagues proposals for solving the crisis. Thus, Ukraine has agreed to a non-aligned neutral status, subject to the provision of international legal security guarantees from a number of states – Russia, China, Israel, as well as from NATO members the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Poland, Canada, Turkey, France and Italy. Berlin, Rome and London have already expressed their agreement.
The delegation of Ukraine also proposed to resolve the issue of Crimea’s ownership in bilateral negotiations for 15 years, while the issue of Donbass at a meeting of heads of state. Kiev also assured that it would not dispute the ownership of these territories by military means.
Russia, among other things, demands to recognize its sovereignty over the Crimea and the independence of the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics.
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