Russia warned that the Kremlin’s position regarding the status of the Republic of Crimea and the Donbass region did not change, presidential adviser Vladimir Medinski said today.
The also head of the Moscow delegation in the negotiations with kyiv, also reported on his Telegram channel that the talks continue this Friday in videoconference format.
Among the conditions demanded by Moscow since the beginning of the talks are the recognition of the reunification of the Republic of Crimea with Russia and of the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, with their 2014 borders.
The last round of consultations took place on March 29 in person in the Turkish city of Istanbul, a meeting that was described as positive by the Russian side. Medinski pointed out that the proposals delivered by kyiv during the meeting contain provisions on Ukraine’s renunciation of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and nuclear weapons, as well as fixing its status as a non-aligned country.
It also renounces the production and deployment of all kinds of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and bacteriological ones.
The document also includes the country’s refusal to join military blocs, the prohibition to place foreign military bases, contingents and to carry out military exercises on national territory without the consent of guarantor states, including Russia.
He foresees that kyiv will give up the possibility of recovering Crimea, Sevastopol and Donbass by military means, although he assures that he will maintain bilateral negotiations with Moscow on the subject.
According to the text, Russia, for its part, would not oppose Ukraine’s aspirations to join the European Union.
Medinski clarified that the Kremlin will present its proposals after studying those of kyiv and predicted that there is still a long way to go to prepare an agreement that is acceptable to both parties.
