CONTINUE
The fourth round of talks that began on Monday between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations to try to agree on a cessation of hostilities resumed on Tuesday via videoconference. The positions seem apparently irreconcilable and the bombardments do not let up. However, in the last few hours, officials close to the negotiators speak of a certain "approach".
For now, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, confirmed on Tuesday in a telematic meeting with senior military commanders of the Atlantic Alliance that his country will have to give up joining the bloc. “It has become clear that Ukraine is not a member of NATO. listen to us We are understanding people. For years we have heard that the doors were supposedly open, but we have already seen that we cannot enter, ”he lamented.
At the same time, the head of the Ukrainian state was pleased that "our people said to start trying this and rely on their own forces and the help of our partners." Zelensky once again asked NATO for military help and deplored that the organization continues to "put but" to the establishment of a no-fly zone over Ukraine to prevent Russian forces from continuing to fire missiles and bomb their aircraft. He assured that the blocked Atlantic “seems to have been hypnotized by the Russian aggression”.
In this regard, Zelenski declared that “we hear arguments saying that World War III could if NATO closes its space to Russian planes. That is why a humanitarian air zone has not been created over Ukraine; therefore, the Russians can bomb cities, hospitals and schools”. Not being in the Alliance, "we are not asking for Article 5 of the NATO Treaty to be adopted (...), but it would be necessary to create new interaction formats." He underscored such a need, as Russian aircraft and missiles could fly to the West, recording that Russia "has struck missiles 20 kilometers from NATO borders and its drones have already reached there."
Crimea, Donetsk and Lugansk
The main Ukrainian negotiator, Mijailo Podoliak, insisted at the beginning of the talks that his country "will not make concessions regarding its territorial integrity", wanting to make it clear that, as Moscow had been demanding, Kyiv will not recognize Crimea as Russian nor the separatist republics of Ukraine. Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states. Much less the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russian troops during the current campaign, including the province of Kherson and the strip that connects Donetsk with Crimea.
Podoliak said that the priority now is to "agree on a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine." And here the question is not going to be easy, since it will be necessary to determine which zones the Russian Army should leave free. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said on Tuesday that "it is still premature to make a forecast" about the possible outcome of the series of contacts and about the date of the end of the negotiations.
For his part, Oleksii Arestovich, adviser to the Ukrainian Presidency, announced that "at the latest in May we should very likely reach a peace agreement, or perhaps much faster." Russia's representative to the UN Vasili Nebenzia formulated Russia's conditions for Ukraine: demilitarization (discard offensive weapons), denazification (ban on neo-Nazi organizations), guaranteed that Ukraine will not be a threat to Russia and give up a part of NATO. Nebenzia this time did not say anything about Crimea and Donbass, which, regardless of whether Kyiv recognizes them or not, will continue to maintain their current status outside of Kyiv's control.
