Istanbul, 30 March 2022 (TDI): Turkish Foreign Ministery said that peace talks between Russia and Ukraine held in Istanbul will not further continue for a second day.
According to one of Russia’s Deputy Defence Ministers, Russia has decided to reduce its military activities around the Kyiv and Chernihiv in Ukraine.
Russia said on Tuesday it would sharply scale back military activity around Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv, in the most tangible sign yet of progress towards a peace deal.
Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin gave the undertaking after talks between delegations from the two countries in Istanbul.
He said, “in order to increase mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations and achieving the ultimate goal of agreeing and signing (an) agreement, a decision was made to radically, by a large margin, reduce military activity in the Kyiv and Chernihiv directions.”
He did not specify the eastern and southern portions of Ukraine, where Russian soldiers are also launching large offensives and struggling to move ahead.
Russia’s Chief Negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said this was one of two steps Moscow was doing to de-escalate the 34-day-old conflict.
Further, he said that if and when a ‘peace treaty’ is initialled by the Foreign Ministers of both Russia & Ukraine, simultaneously, the states’ Presidents would agree to meet each other.
Ukrainian negotiators stated during the most recent round of discussions with Russia, in which it has been recommended that Ukraine may adopt the neutral status in exchange for security assurances, and Kyiv would not join military alliances or host the military bases.
Russian Chief Negotiator Medinsky said: “These proposals will be considered in the near future, reported to the President (Putin), and our response will be given.”
Fomin said Russia also had demanded to Ukraine to impede torture over captured Russian prisoners. In reply, the Deputy Head of the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said that Ukraine checks all information concerning the treatment of prisoners and will take appropriate legal action if soldiers are found guilty of any violation.
