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What could Russia and Ukraine look for in the talks?

2022-03-02T19:43:12.927Z


Little is known about the talks between Russia and Ukraine to reach a cessation of hostilities. Experts consulted by CNN advance some premises.


Terrifying images of the Russian bombing of Kharkiv 1:14

(CNN Spanish) --

The talks between Russia and Ukraine that began on Monday, five after the invasion and the start of the war, have opened a possible door for peace, although the fighting persists and this Wednesday new bombings were reported in Kyiv and Kharkiv in the midst of a brutal Russian onslaught.

This first dialogue lasted five hours, during which the two sides listened to each other on the Ukraine-Belarus border and found a number of points where progress can be made, said Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the International Affairs Committee and member of the Russian delegation.

According to Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhaylo Podolyak, both sides discussed a possible "ceasefire and the end of combat actions on the territory of Ukraine," he told reporters.

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While Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that "the first round of talks took place and Russia's conditions have not changed."

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"We are ready for talks, we are ready for diplomacy, but we are in no way ready to accept any Russian ultimatum," he added.

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The delegations returned to their capitals and it was agreed to hold a second meeting that would take place this Wednesday night, although the start of the talks has not been able to achieve, at the moment, a ceasefire.

Little is known about the details of these conversations in the face of a cessation of hostilities.

But experts consulted by CNN advanced some of the possible premises of the exchange, based on the positions of both parties.

What could Russia and Ukraine be talking about?

"From the outset, the first thing there should be is a total ceasefire," Jorge Septién, a security expert, told CNN.

For Septién, a possible agreement must start from the understanding that Ukraine's entry into NATO, strongly resisted by Moscow, is unacceptable to the Russians because it would create "a very dangerous neighborhood in military terms."

"Then I believe that there has to be an international community that achieves, through a truce, the negotiation for that NATO position, and for a scheme not of military possession, but of commercial exchange between Russia and Ukraine," he said.

Ukraine resists: Kyiv residents defend themselves with barricades 2:59

Alexei Chévez Silveti, a consultant and security specialist, told CNN that "in a very optimistic scenario, I would like to believe that this is a continuation of a political negotiation, that is why there is an impasse at the moment and there are a series of talks to achieve Putin's objectives on the table as a latent threat to the Ukrainian capital".

"I would like to believe that Putin is using this invasion to generate political agreements that he has not achieved in other ways. Not taking Kiev is in part to avoid generating these feelings of more hatred on the part of the Ukrainian population and to achieve the political objectives that Putin pursues and that he lost in 2014, when the pro-Russian regime lost power (in Ukraine)," he added.

For José Levy, chief international correspondent for CNN, the delegations will have to overcome many problems to reach a peace agreement.

"The Ukrainian delegation has pointed out that there are two fundamental aspects. On the one hand, to guarantee the cessation of violence, and on the other, the withdrawal of Russian troops," he said.

Ukrainian civilians block passage of a Russian convoy and force it to turn around 0:45

"From the Russian delegation, we see that they want to ensure that there is some kind of recognition by the international community of the annexation of the Crimean peninsula, which is believed to be very difficult to count on the recognition of Ukraine."

Levy also stressed that Russia considers it essential to ensure Ukraine's neutrality and not become a member of NATO.

"Another aspect that the Russians are demanding is the demilitarization of Ukraine, interpreted by many as a kind of surrender," he said.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, what we know so far

Ukraine, a former Soviet republic that gained independence in 1991, has a difficult historical relationship with its neighbor Russia, and in recent decades has moved closer to the European Union and NATO, formed in 1949 to counter the Soviet Union.

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In 2014 Russia invaded and annexed the Crimean peninsula, part of Ukraine's territory, and months later pro-Russian rebels rose up in the east of the country, forming the separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk —supported by Moscow—, and starting a war civil society that still persists and that has merged with the current Russian invasion,.

The coming to power of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, close to the West, in 2019, started a new wave of tensions, and in late 2021 Russia began to deploy soldiers, vehicles and planes on the border with Ukraine before the invasion.

The invasion began on Thursday, February 24, when the first Russian troops crossed the border into northern, eastern and southern Ukraine, and bombers were reported in major Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv and Kharkiv.

Putin has said his actions respond to NATO's expansion in recent decades, especially in Eastern Europe.

With information from Daniela Patiño.

peace agreement

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2022-03-02

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