The spokesman for the Turkish Presidency, Ibrahim Kalin, confirmed on his Twitter account the agreement for a meeting “this coming week”, but without giving specific dates. It is clear that it will be held in Istanbul and that it will be this week, but the day it will start has not been defined.
According to the Ukrainian negotiator David Arahamiya, the next round will be held in Turkey from this Monday 28 to 30 March, while the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinski, stated that the meeting would take place from 29 as of 30 March.
Russia and Ukraine have not achieved “any progress or progress significant” in the negotiations to end the conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said on Monday. However, he said that it was “important” that it had been decided to continue with the talks in person, confirmed that the delegations would arrive this Monday and that it was “unlikely” that the talks would resume the same day.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, agreed to host the negotiations in Istanbul during a telephone conversation with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. In the previous round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine held in Turkey, in Antalya, on 10 March, no major breakthrough was achieved. The two sides have held regular videoconference talks since Russia launched its offensive in Ukraine at the end of February.
Zelensky clarifies current Ukrainian position
For his part, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, affirmed this Sunday that Russia must withdraw its troops from the country before any document is signed on Ukraine’s non-adherence to NATO and the security guarantees that, in return, it demands kyiv to several guarantor countries, such as Turkey and the United Kingdom. The president confirmed that he is willing to accept the neutral and non-nuclear status of the country, as Russia demands, in exchange for these security guarantees.
“We need an agreement with the president (Vladímir ) Putin. The guarantors will not sign anything if there are troops,” he said in an interview with independent Russian media, including the Meduza portal (located in Latvia) and journalists from the banned Dozhd television network, the Kommersant business daily, and author Mikhail Zygar.
Regarding the Russian demand that Ukraine recognize the Crimean peninsula as part of Russia and the independence of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, Zelensky said that it is an issue that “must be addressed and be resolved”.
Zelenski also pointed out that other points that are on the negotiating table with Russia, such as the protection of the Russian language in Ukraine, are being discussed, but he explained that he is willing to accept a compromise. This could have the formula of a mutual “respect for the languages of the citizens of neighboring countries”.
The communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, has stated that these media should not publish the interview, and warned that “it will determine the degree of responsibility and take response measures,” according to Meduza.
Telematic classes in kyiv
“On March 28 the educational process will resume in the capital – online. It will be more adapted to current conditions. And with different educational platforms for students”, announced, for his part, the mayor of kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, in a message posted on the Telegram network.
“An important task today is that the city lives and works even in such difficult conditions of martial law”, he highlighted in the message, and affirmed that the Russians “are trying to intimidate us” but that “it will not work”.
Ukrainian reinforcement in kyiv and Russian advance in Mariupol
Ukraine strengthens its control in the capital and the kyiv region; but they believe that Russia will try to break resistance again after regrouping on Belarusian territory, while continuing its offensive in southern and eastern Ukraine, especially in Donbas.
“Several units were assigned to the Chernobyl area -in the Kiev region- for their subsequent relocation to Belarus, with the aim of restoring combat capacity”, said this Sunday the General Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Russian forces have meanwhile gained most of the ground in southern Mariupol, where heavy fighting continues and Russia is attempting to capture the port, according to Monday (28.03.2022) the last part of the British Ministry of Defense on the war in Ukraine.
At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities continued to warn about the dangers in Chernobyl and stopped the evacuations of civilians due to “possible provocations” by Russia on the c humanitarian corridors.
Furthermore, senior US and NATO officials insisted that neither Washington nor NATO seek regime change in Russia and they tried to qualify the most recent statements by US President Joe Biden, which the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, has described as “alarming”. Peskov also warned that Moscow would continue to “closely monitor” the US president’s comments.
rml (efe, afp, reuters, updated at 10: 53 CET)