"It is time for negotiations to bear fruit." As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expected on The eve of the fifth round of talks between Russia and Ukraine on Sunday, the two countries made "the most significant progress". The outside world originally had low expectations for the russia-Ukraine face-to-face talks after nearly three weeks. Some Western media even hyped on the 29th that "the suspected poisoning of Russian billionaires and Ukrainian delegation members cast a shadow on the negotiations" and played up the opening atmosphere of the negotiations was not warm enough. But after about three hours of talks, Dmitry Medinsky, the head of Russia's negotiating delegation, said Moscow had confirmed Ukraine's desire for neutral, non-aligned and non-nuclear status, which would not produce or deploy weapons of mass destruction on its territory and renounce joining any military alliance. A member of the Ukrainian delegation, Arahamia, says Kiev wants an international mechanism to guarantee Ukraine's security. As the good news came, the two international benchmark oil prices fell more than 5% on The 29th, the major European stock indexes rose, the US stock market opened higher. On the same day, the Russian Defense Ministry also announced that it would significantly reduce military operations in the direction of Kiev and Chernikov. When will Russia and Ukraine sign the agreement? When will the two presidents meet? When will the military conflict end? It is expected that the answers to these questions will become clear and optimistic after the negotiation on May 29.
No foreign troops will be deployed in Ukrainian territory
On the afternoon of 29 Beijing time, the fifth round of talks between Russia and Ukraine was officially held in Dormbakhce Palace in Istanbul, Turkey. Erdogan told both delegations ahead of the meeting that a continuation of the conflict is in no one's interest. He called on Russia and Ukraine to "put an end to this tragedy", saying both sides had "legitimate concerns".
According to Reuters on 29, the opening atmosphere of the day's negotiations was "cold", Russian and Ukrainian delegation members did not shake hands. But after about three hours of discussion, Mr Medinsky described it as a "meaningful" conversation. The Russian side is studying Ukraine's proposal and will report relevant information to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "We have agreed and are proposing a solution under which the meeting of heads of state can take place simultaneously with the initialisation of the treaty by the foreign ministers," Ria Novosti quoted Medinsky as saying.
According to RIA Novosti, Medinsky said peace could come sooner if the agreement is quickly signed and a mutual compromise is reached. Russia has received written proposals from Ukraine confirming that the latter wishes to obtain neutral, non-aligned and non-nuclear status, rejects the production and deployment of all types of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and bacteriological weapons, and does not establish foreign military bases and deploy foreign troops on its territory. Ukraine has given up joining any military alliance, but Russia says it is not opposed to Ukraine joining the European Union.
Kiev wants to set up an international mechanism to guarantee Ukraine's security, and its content and form are "similar to article 5 of NATO," Allahamia, a Ukrainian negotiator, told reporters Tuesday, AFP reported. Ukraine sees the permanent members of the UN Security Council as its security guarantors first - China, the US, Britain, France and Russia - and will discuss the matter with Germany, Canada, Poland, Israel, Turkey and others, Ria Novosti quoted Allahamia as saying. He said some countries had tentatively agreed to become Ukraine's security guarantors. Ukrainian President's office adviser Nikolay Podolyak said at a press conference on The 29th that Ukraine is currently unable to reach an agreement with Russia on security guarantees. Ukraine plans to invite all security guarantee countries to a multi-party meeting in the hope of reaching an agreement within two weeks.
A Ukrainian negotiator said he discussed the status of the Crimean peninsula with Russia, adding that the issue of the Donbas region is different and will be resolved by the presidents of the two countries, the Guardian reported Monday. Russia's ItAR-Tass news agency reported That Medinsky said Ukraine offered to take back the Crimean peninsula not by force, but through negotiations.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday that the talks made "the most significant progress" since the start of the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and that some more complex issues should be discussed at the level of the Russian and Ukrainian presidents. It has been nearly 20 days since Russian and Ukrainian officials last met face-to-face. On March 10, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Alexander Kuleba and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held talks in Antalya, Turkey.
Lavrov said Thursday that Turkey has made great efforts to bring the two sides to the negotiating table and that Russia wants productive negotiations with Ukraine, but "we must ensure that Ukraine is no longer under the military control of the West, of NATO," RT reported.
Russian millionaire Abramovich unexpectedly appeared at the scene of negotiations
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich (hereinafter referred to as "Abramovich") made a surprise appearance at the russia-Ukraine talks Thursday, Reuters reported. The video showed members of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations sitting at either side of a long table, with Mr. Abramovich, dressed in a blue suit, seated in the front row of observers. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on The 29th that ABU was not an official member of the delegation, but his attendance at the talks was agreed by both sides. Abramovich, who has been in the spotlight recently because of sanctions imposed by the UK and the government and plans to sell The English premier League football club Chelsea, was embroiled in a "suspected poisoning" scandal related to russia-Ukraine talks earlier Wednesday.
The Wall Street Journal on Sunday quoted sources as saying that Abramovich accepted Ukraine's request to help facilitate negotiations after Russia launched "special military operations." For some time now, he has been traveling in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey and other countries. After meeting two members of Ukraine's negotiating delegation in Kiev in early March, all three showed symptoms of poisoning, including red eyes, persistent tears and peeling of the face and hands. Abramovich even went blind for several hours and had difficulty eating. Their condition has since improved and is not life-threatening.
Sources told the Wall Street Journal that the "suspected poisoning" could have been the work of hard-liners in Moscow who wanted to derail the talks. Western experts say it is difficult to determine whether the symptoms are caused by biochemical agents or some kind of electromagnetic radiation attack. "The purpose of poisoning is not to kill, but to send a warning," said Grossif, a member of the Risk Takers investigation group in the Netherlands.
However, Reuters reported Wednesday that Ukrainian officials poured cold water on the "poisoning news." "There is a lot of speculation, conspiracy theories and competing elements of information in the media right now," Podolyak said. "The negotiating team members are working in a normal way right now." Kuleba made a similar point, quipping, "Everyone craves sensational news. I advise every negotiator with Russia not to eat or drink, preferably not to touch surfaces." A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said intelligence sources believed the symptoms of Abramovich and others were caused by "environmental" factors, not poisoning.
The us and the UK to question
The Russian Defense Ministry has decided to significantly reduce military operations in The direction of Kiev and Chernygov to increase mutual trust as the talks on the establishment of a neutral, non-aligned and non-nuclear status agreement for Ukraine have entered the operational stage, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Fujian said after the conclusion of russia-Ukraine talks on Wednesday. According to the Associated Press, the Ukrainian military said it had noticed the withdrawal of Russian troops near Kiev and Chernikov. But the Pentagon said it could not immediately confirm the situation.
The United States, Britain and others do not seem to want a dramatic turnaround. According to AFP, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken questioned Russia's "seriousness" of the talks on Tuesday. A spokesman for the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Russia would be judged by its actions, not its words, after it said it would curtail military activity in northern Ukraine.
The breakthrough came on the same day that The U.S. and its Allies plan to impose new sanctions on key sectors of the Russian economy, including supply chains, in an effort to undermine "the Kremlin's ability to operate its war machine," Treasury Deputy Secretary Paul Adeyermo said.
The reactions of the US and the UK to some extent confirm Lavrov's statement on The 28th. There was no need to involve the EU and US in peace talks, he said: "There are plenty of examples of western colleagues tearing up diplomatic achievements, they are no longer trusted and I don't want to see any shuttle diplomacy by western partners".
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