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Russia began the invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Russia announced on Tuesday that it would reduce attacks on the Ukrainian towns of Kyiv and Chernigov in northern Ukraine as negotiations with the Ukrainian government in Turkey progress.
The statement, made by the Russian Defense Ministry and questioned by the United States, comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s envoys proposed at a meeting on Tuesday that his country adopt a neutral status – one of the Russia’s main demands – in exchange for international security guarantees.
Kyiv and other Western countries said they would take this announcement from Moscow with a grain of salt.
the neutral status means that Ukraine refrains from any attempt to join military alliances such as NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) or have foreign military bases on their territory.
“Given that the negotiations for an agreement on the neutrality and non-nuclear status of Ukraine and on security guarantees (for Ukraine) are entering a practical phase, and taking into account the principles discussed during today’s meeting, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation made the decision to drastically reduce combat operations in areas of Kyiv Yes Chernihiv with the end of to reinforce mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for future negotiations and for the signing of the aforementioned agreement,” said Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin, who was part of the negotiating team in Istanbul.
Ukraine reported a few hours later on its proposal for security guarantees: within three days of the start of a war, aggression or military operation, a group of guarantor countries would be legally bound to provide military assistance to Ukraine.
This would take the form of militarization and closing the skies, i.e. a no-fly zone, which the West has so far rejected in the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine suggested that the guarantor countries include the permanent members of the UN Security Council, i.e. the United States, France, China, the United Kingdom and Russia, “although that should be discussed separately”.
He added that he would also like to see Italy, Germany, Poland, Israel, Turkey and Canada among his guarantors.
Security guarantees would “temporarily” not apply to the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk, and he proposed that the status of this region be considered in negotiations between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Zelensky government also hopes that all guarantor countries will support Ukraine’s accession to the European Union and help in this process.
Another of the points proposed by Ukraine is to establish a period of “15 years of bilateral negotiations” on the situation of Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.
Ukrainian negotiators said there was enough material in the current proposals to warrant a meeting between Zelensky and Putin, adding that they were awaiting Russia’s response.
Caution from Ukraine and the West
Later, President Zelensky reacted with skepticism.
“Ukrainians are not naive”he said, because if the first signals of the Istanbul talks were “positive”, they did not “extinguish” the detonations of the Russian projectiles.
Other countries also reacted cautiously.
The president of United StatesJoe Biden said: “I don’t believe it until I see what his actions are.” His government’s secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said there was a difference between what Russia says and what it does.
The leaders of United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy they also urged the West not to lower its guard against Russia.
“They agreed there could be no softening of Western resolve until the horror inflicted on Ukraine is over,” said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office.
Russian withdrawal
Russian forces appear to have stopped in Kyiv on Tuesday. Earlier, the British Ministry of Defense said that Ukrainian forces managed to push back the Russians from various positions.
However, Russia later claimed that the attacks won’t stop just yet.
“It’s not a ceasefire but it’s our aspiration, to gradually achieve a de-escalation of the conflict at least on these fronts,” said Vladimir Medinsky, head of negotiations in Moscow, in an interview with the TASS news agency.
The besieged city of Chernigov remained under fire on Tuesday, at least until the Russian announcement, according to Ukrainian officials.
The mayor of the city believes that 400 inhabitants deceased there since the beginning of the war.
The United States urged caution regarding Fomin’s statements. “I don’t read anything until I see what their actions are“, President Joe Biden told reporters in Singapore.
“We will see if they respect what they offer. There are negotiations that continued today (Tuesday), one in Turkey and others,” he added.
“I had a meeting with the Heads of State of four NATO allies (France, Germany, USA and UK) and there seems to be a consensus that we should see what they have to offer,” he said.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said he had yet to see “signs of real seriousness“From Russia.
Blinken added that there was a difference between what Russia says and what Russia does and that his country has focused on the latter.
He added that Moscow must immediately end its aggression and withdraw its forces.
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