Russian-Ukrainian talks: Kyiv wants firm security guarantees

Negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv are tough, but they are progressing. Kyiv underscores its demand for security guarantees. The Kremlin, meanwhile, believes that the neighboring country could remain neutral, following Sweden’s model.

The Kiev leadership has contradicted Russian statements about a possible neutrality of Ukraine based on the Swedish model. What Ukraine needs is “a powerful pool of supporters with clearly defined security guarantees,” Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Poldoljak wrote on Telegram.

By referring to alleged Kiev proposals for neutrality based on the Swedish or Austrian model, Moscow is only trying to gain the initiative in the negotiations. “Ukraine is in a direct war with Russia,” Podoliak said. That’s why it doesn’t need a Swedish or any other model, but a “Ukrainian model”: security guarantees from partners who will supply weapons if necessary and close the skies over Ukraine if the country is attacked from the air.

Zelenskyi: “Just but fair peace for Ukraine”

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj also insists on reliable security promises in the negotiations with Russia. “We can and must fight now. We can and must defend our state, our life, our Ukrainian life. We can and must negotiate a just but fair peace for Ukraine, real security guarantees that work,” he said in a video -Speech.

At first he was cautiously optimistic about an end to the war. The negotiating positions sounded more realistic, he said in a video message. But it will still take a while before Ukraine can be satisfied. “We all want peace and victory as soon as possible,” said Zelenskyy. “But it takes effort and patience. There is still fighting and work to be done.” Every war ends with an agreement.

Kremlin thinks “compromise” on neutrality is possible

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a neutral Ukraine based on the Austrian or Swedish model is a possibility in the negotiations. “This is a variant that is being discussed and could be seen as a certain compromise.” He did not comment on whether the lifting of Western sanctions against Russia was a condition for an agreement with Ukraine.

Moscow chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said that if Ukraine remained neutral, it wanted to keep its own army and navy. A neutral status would mean that Ukraine will not join NATO. Zelenskyj had already said on Tuesday that his country had to “recognize” that it could not join the western military alliance.

Medinski described the negotiations with the Ukrainians as “slow and difficult”. But the Kremlin wants to “come to peace as quickly as possible”. He cited the status of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, and the status of the pro-Russian separatist areas in eastern Ukraine, which Moscow has recognized as independent “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk, as key issues.

Kuleba calls for “deputinization”

With the war since February 24, Russia wants to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, demilitarize the neighboring country and remove alleged Nazis from the Kiev leadership. Instead of this “denazification” demanded by Moscow, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for “deputinization”: Russia should be cut off internationally from any influence on politics, economy, energy, culture and other areas, he tweeted.

Lavrov sees hope for a compromise

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sees opportunities for a compromise in the negotiations. The talks are not easy for obvious reasons. “Nevertheless, there is some hope of reaching a compromise,” Lavrov told the channel of the Russian newspaper “RBK”. There are already concrete formulations “which, in my opinion, are about to be agreed.” According to Lavrov, the point is that Ukraine should declare itself neutral. This is now being “seriously discussed, of course in connection with security guarantees”.