There’s been some progress in the peace talks between Moscow and Kiev, but the draft deal isn’t yet ready to be submitted for a meeting at the highest level, Vladimir Medinsky, who heads the team of Russian negotiators, has said.
“The Ukrainian side has become more realistic in its approach to issues related to the neutral and non-nuclear status of Ukraine,” Medinsky wrote on Telegram on Sunday.
There’s also understanding between Moscow and Kiev on the need to create a “system of international security guarantees for a neutral Ukraine,” he added.
Medinsky said that among other things agreed-on by the sides during the talks in Istanbul last week were Kiev’s abstention from the deployment of foreign troops, bases and any offensive strike weapons on Ukrainian territory, the fielding and production of weapons of mass destruction, and the staging of drills with foreign militaries without consent from guarantor states, including Russia.
However, Medinsky disagreed with Ukraine’s top negotiator David Arakhamia, who’d earlier claimed that Moscow accepted Kiev’s stance on all points except for the Crimea issue.