Putin and Zelenskyy meeting possible after peace talks in Turkey: Ukraine
Russia said that it will drastically reduce military activity in Ukrainian capital Kyiv and Chernihiv, which its deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin was a decision taken to in the interest of creating mutual trust and the necessary conditions for further talks.
A face-to-face meeting between Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskky and Russia's Vladimir Putin is 'possible' following the completion of the latest round of peace talks in Turkey's Istanbul, an Ukrainian negotiator said Tuesday evening. This comes after Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that a meeting between the leaders of the warring countries could only happen after key issues were ironed out by the two delegations.
"The results of today's meeting are sufficient for a meeting at the leaders' level," Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said.
Russia today said it had held 'meaningful' talks with Ukraine and has decided to 'radically' cut down military activity in capital Kyiv and Chernihiv - which is in northern Ukraine. Moscow's declaration is being seen as the first major breakthrough after multiple rounds of ceasefire and peace talks since Russia invaded Ukraine last month.
Russia's deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin said the decision to reduce military activity was taken in the interest of creating mutual trust and the necessary conditions required for the occurrence of further talks between the two nations.
The Russian minister further stated that there has been progress on negotiations on “preparing an agreement on Ukraine's neutrality and non-nuclear status” and also giving the east-European country “security guarantees”.
Zelenskyy's political advisor Mykhailo Podolyak earlier in the day said that the talks focused on a ceasefire to end the impending humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and also security guarantees to protect the country from Russia.
Furthermore, top Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said that Russia is no longer opposed to Ukraine joining the European Union (EU), Reuters reportedHe added that it was one of the proposals by Kyiv at the talks.
Ukraine negotiator David Arakhamia, meanwhile, told reporters that the country set out a detailed framework for a future peace deal with Russia, which calls for an international agreement similar to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's (NATO) Article 5 of an “attack on one is an attack on all” principle. According to the arrangement, a group of third countries, including the US, UK, France, Poland, China and Turkey, would guarantee Ukraine's security.
Ukraine also gave a green signal on holding talks over a 15-year period on the future of Crimea Peninsula - seized by Russia in 2014, with both sides agreeing not to use armed forces to put an end to the matter in the meantime.
However, even as talks happened in Turkish city of Istanbul, Russian shelling and missile strikes continued in Ukraine. Earlier in the day, one such airstrike hit a nine-storied government building in Mykolaiv - a southern port city in Ukraine. Initially, at least two people were reported to have been killed in the attack but later, during his address to Danish lawmakers, Zelenskyy placed the death toll at seven and added that 22 more have been wounded.
(With inputs from agencies)