Senior members of the Ukrainian delegation who spoke to Russian officials today said there had been progress after a day of talks in Turkey – and provided more details on the security guarantees Ukraine would expect after the ceasefire.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, referred to the talks on the Crimean regime, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
“I want to emphasize that in the territories of Crimea and Sevastopol, it has been agreed bilaterally to pause for 15 years and to hold bilateral talks on the status of these territories,” he said.
Ukraine and the West have refused to recognize Russia’s annexation of the peninsula, and the pause could be a formula for removing the issue from the table for now.
“Separately, we discussed that for 15 years, as long as the bilateral talks take place, there will be no military hostilities,” Podolyak added.
He also referred to one of the toughest elements of the talks: security guarantees for Ukraine if and when a ceasefire and a peace settlement are agreed.
“Undoubtedly, this agreement on security guarantees can be signed only after the ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Russian troops to their positions on February 23, 2022,” he said.
“We are simply bringing our proposals as negotiators to Russia on Ukraine’s security guarantee system,” he continued.
Podolyak said Russian negotiators had “signed the treaty outlining ways to end the war” and would work out their counter-proposals.
He added that both sides were still “discussing a humanitarian ceasefire”, stressing that “there are many places where humanitarian corridors are needed”.
Another member of the Ukrainian team, David Arahamia, also spoke about security guarantees. “We insist on it being an international treaty, signed by all the guarantors of security, which will be ratified.”
He said this could be compared to NATO Article 5, which enshrines the principle of collective defense. The regulation, he said, would be similar to Article 5, “but even with a stricter activation mechanism”.
“We say that consultations should take place within three days. They should find out if it is a war, aggression, military operation … After that, the guarantor countries are obliged to help us. And military aid and armed forces, and weapons, and “Closed skies – all that we need so much now, and we can not get. That is our proposal,” he said.
Arachamia named the guarantors as “the [permanent] countries of the UN Security Council “as well as Turkey, Germany, Canada, Italy, Poland and Israel.
“We have stipulated in this agreement that the guarantor countries not only must not deny Ukraine’s accession to the EU, but also help it,” he said.
“Of course, we have unresolved issues with the occupied parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, with Crimea and Sevastopol. And international security guarantees will not work temporarily in these territories,” he added.
A third member of the Ukrainian delegation, Oleksandr Chalyi, also stressed the three-day deadline for consultations in the event of “any attack, military attack or military operation”.
“And if these consultations do not lead to a diplomatic solution to the problem, the guarantor countries must provide us with military assistance, weapons, and even include such a situation as closed airspace over Ukraine,” Chaly said.
Speaking on Ukrainian television, he said: “Doing everything possible to restore Ukraine’s security is a basic requirement. the current situation as a non-aligned and non-nuclear state in the form of permanent neutrality “.
“Therefore, these guarantees, which in fact are in line with Article 5 of NATO, as required by the Constitution of our country. [We] we will not deploy foreign military bases or military corps on our territory and we will not conclude military-political alliances. “Military training in our country will be carried out with the consent of our guarantor countries,” Chalyi said.
“However, it is fundamental for us that nothing in these provisions will deny us EU membership. The guarantor countries are also committed to facilitating these processes,” he added.
