Kyiv says to “read” the Russian demand for its “neutrality”

Volodymyr Zhelensky promised that this particular point of negotiation should be submitted to the referendum.

Towards progress in negotiations? On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zhelensky said he was “deeply” examining the question of “neutrality” in Ukraine, which was the focus of talks with Russia to end the conflict, which is set to resume earlier this week.

One of the clauses of the talks was “Security guarantees and neutrality, the nuclear disarmament of our state,” Moscow declared, in an online interview with Russian independent media, which aired on the Ukrainian presidential administration’s telegram channel. “I understand this point of negotiation and it is under discussion and it is being deeply explored.”

But he warned that it would have to be submitted to a referendum and needed guarantees, accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin and his entourage of “pulling things out.”

New negotiations

Sources say new talks in Turkey, which begin Monday or Tuesday, will take place after the Russian military announced over the weekend that it was shifting its “main purpose” to Ukraine.

Moscow on Friday said it wanted to focus its offensive in eastern Ukraine, which changed course, prompting fears of secession in the country, prompting Lukansk separatists to hold a referendum on the independence of their territory.