ANKARA, KOMPAS.TV – Russian President Vladimir Putin talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. During the talks, Putin outlined a series of conditions that must be met before agreeing to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and agree to a ceasefire.
According to Turkish Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin, as reported by CNN, Saturday (19/3/2022), in a telephone conversation, Erdogan offered Turkey to be a meeting place for Putin and Zelenskyy, as part of facilitating negotiations to end the war.
Kalin said while Zelenskyy was ready to meet, Putin laid out issues that had to be resolved before the highest-level talks could take place.
“The first is Ukraine’s neutrality, i.e. canceling its intention (permanently) to become a member of NATO. Second, disarmament and mutual security guarantees in the context of the Austrian model. Third, is the process the Russians call ‘de-Nazification’. Fourth, remove barriers to the use of the Russian language in Ukraine,” Kalin said in an interview with the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet published Saturday.
Kalin added, “Some progress has been made in the first four articles of the ongoing negotiations. However, it is too early to say the two sides have reached a full agreement or an agreement is ready to be signed.”
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Kalin added that Putin made two additional demands which were the “most difficult issues”, one of which was the recognition of the annexation of Crimea and two of the so-called republics in the Donbas.
Kalin said these last two issues were not acceptable demands for Ukraine and the international community.
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“If the first four articles are reached, then there can be discussions at the leadership level on the fifth and sixth articles,” Kalin said in the interview, adding that if negotiations take place, “it is possible to reach an agreement and end the war.”
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