On Monday delegations from Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul, Turkey to exchange peace proposals to end their war. While no major breakthroughs took place during the negotiations, another prisoner swap has been agreed to as well as discussions about returning displaced and evacuated children. Last week Kiev would not even confirm if it would attend the meeting, then launched a massive drone strike against Russia on Sunday.
“It seems they’re staging a picture of diplomacy for Trump,” a senior Ukrainian official said.
Both countries did exchange documents on the settlement process, however. The two nations are expected to hold a third direct negotiation meeting at a later date. Moscow and Kiev have agreed to exchange all severely ill prisoners of war as well as those under 25-years-old, according to the head of the Ukrainian delegation, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. The corpses of 6,000 soldiers from each side will also be exchanged.
“Kiev has handed Moscow a list of hundreds of Ukrainian children it is demanding to be returned, Andrey Yermak, the head of Vladimir Zelensky’s office, has said, calling the request ‘the first test of sincere intentions’,” RT said. “While Kiev has repeatedly accused Moscow of ‘deporting’ children, Russia has said that they were evacuated from the combat zone for safety reasons, and that their parents or legal guardians could contact or retrieve them at any time.”
Kiev’s peace memorandum rejected Moscow’s key demands for recognition of new Russian regions, neutrality for Ukraine and limits on the size of Kiev’s military forces.
Specifically, the Ukrainian document did not recognize Crimea, the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, and Kherson and Zaporozhye regions as part of Russia. Kiev believes that current front lines should be the starting point for negotiations on territory. Ukraine also insisted that it cannot be forced to accept neutrality, claiming that its potential NATO membership should only depend on the consensus of NATO.
“Ukraine’s proposal calls for ‘a full and unconditional ceasefire’ in the air, on land, and at sea as a prerequisite for peace negotiations, according to the circulated document. The ceasefire would last at least 30 days and could be extended, with monitoring led by the U.S. and supported by third countries,” RT said. “Ukraine’s framework demands a commitment to ‘non-repetition of aggression’ and insists on Kiev receiving security guarantees, which should be underpinned by members of the international community, according to the document.”
Russia rejected the unconditional ceasefire demanded by Ukraine, possibly because of the other demands.
“Russia has handed over to the Ukrainian side a detailed memorandum that includes both a proposal on reaching a lasting peace and steps for a ‘full-fledged ceasefire,’ the head of Moscow’s delegation and presidential aide, Vladimir Medinsky, has told journalists after the talks. The ceasefire part includes options that could lead to the truce, he says, adding that the Ukrainian side ‘has taken it for review’,” RT said.