Both sides noted progress on all issues but still had different opinions on who should dominate the negotiations. The Ukrainian side believes that the talks are ready to be held at the presidential level, while the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, insists that it is too early to talk about this high-level meeting before completing the agreement.
One of the main current “bottlenecks” is the recognition of the status of Crimea and the Donbass. The State Duma (lower house) of Russia announced that it is unlikely to hold a referendum on the annexation of Donbass to Russia before the end of the year. The priority is to end the military campaign and restore the region’s economy.
Even so, there is still the possibility of holding a high-level meeting between the two Russian-Ukrainian leaders. In order to organize this meeting, the Program Director of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) Ivan Timofeev told Izvestia that all the contents of the agreement need to be carefully prepared in advance.
“A meeting without results is unacceptable for the Russian leader. Therefore, such talks have not actually happened yet,” Mr. Timofeev said.
According to Timofeev, the negotiations largely depend on the situation of the conflict and the position of Kiev and Moscow can become tough depending on the outcome of military operations on the ground.
“The fact that Russian forces are stopped can be considered to Kiev’s advantage. Currently, Russia can also push for full control of the Donbass region. In the event of success, Moscow will prevail at the negotiating table. This is why it is so difficult for the two sides to reach a compromise,” noted the Russian expert.
According to Mr. Timofeev, the views of Russia and Ukraine are likely to get closer together on the neutral position and ensure Ukraine’s security. However, compromises on the Donbass issue and Crimea remain a “tough” issue.
For his part, Deputy Director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Russian University of Economics, Mr. Dmitry Suslov commented, the West disagrees on the link between sanctions and progress. negotiations.
Mr. Suslov stressed that countries such as the Netherlands, Britain, Poland and the United States consider that stopping military activities and signing a peace agreement is not enough to lift sanctions. In their view, sanctions will further weaken Russia’s international standing.
In contrast, European powers such as France, Germany and Italy disagree with this view and support the complete or partial lifting of sanctions after the end of Russia’s special military operation.
at Blogtuan.info – Source: Soha.vn – Read the original article here
