Russia’s top negotiator at talks with Ukraine stated Friday that Moscow as well as Kyiv had actually brought their positions «as close as possible» on a proposition for Ukraine to come to be a neutral state.
The Kremlin on Wednesday stated that a neutral Ukraine along the lines of Sweden or Austria was being discussed at talks with Kyiv to end three weeks of a Russian army procedure there.
Ukraine turned down the proposition, as well as stated it desired its safety to be assured by worldwide pressures.
«The subject of neutral status and Ukraine’s non-accession to NATO is just one of the key points of the talks, this is the factor on which the events brought their placements as close as feasible,» Russia’s lead mediator Vladimir Medinsky said on Friday, mentioned by Russian news agencies.
He included that there were «nuances» when it came to «safety assurances» asked for by Ukraine.
Russia, which has actually been conducting a military operation in Ukraine because February 24, has requested that its neighbor never join the Western NATO armed forces alliance, in addition to demanding its «demilitarisation» and also «denazification.»
Medinsky said Friday that mediators were «half-way» in the direction of an arrangement on the «demilitarisation» of Ukraine.
Mikhailo Podolyak, an expert to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky participating in the negotiations, however said his country’s placement had actually not budged.
«Negotiation condition. The statements of the Russian side are only their asking for placements,» he composed on Twitter.
«All statements are meant, inter alia, to provoke stress in the media. Our settings are unmodified. Ceasefire, withdrawal of soldiers & & strong safety assurances with concrete solutions.»
