Following the conclusion of the last round of peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey, a Ukrainian negotiator stated Tuesday evening that a face-to-face meeting between Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskky and Russia’s Vladimir Putin is ‘possible.’
This follows Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement on Monday that a meeting between the leaders of the warring countries could only take place once the two delegations had worked out crucial issues.
“The outcomes of today’s conference are sufficient for a meeting of the leaders,” said David Arakhamia, a Ukrainian negotiator.
Russia announced today that it had held “serious” talks with Ukraine and that it has resolved to “dramatically” reduce military action in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and Chernihiv, in northern Ukraine. After many rounds of ceasefire and peace talks since Russia invaded Ukraine last month, Moscow’s declaration is being hailed as a huge step forward.
Alexander Fomin, Russia’s deputy defence minister, said the decision to restrict military operations was made in the interest of fostering mutual trust and setting the essential conditions for future talks between the two countries.
The Russian minister went on to say that talks on “preparing an agreement on Ukraine’s neutrality and non-nuclear status” had progressed, as well as granting the east-European country “security assurances.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, Zelenskyy’s political counsellor, stated earlier in the day that the talks centered on a ceasefire to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Ukraine and security guarantees to defend the country from Russia.
