Cease-fire talks make 'substantial progress': Russian negotiator
One of Russia’s negotiators in cease-fire talks with Ukraine said he believes "substantial progress" has been made and that the two sides might reach a "unified position" in the near future, the Russian state news agency TASS reported Sunday.
Leonid Slutsky, a senior Russian lawmaker who has taken part in the talks, was quoted by TASS as saying, “The progress in the talks between Russia and Ukraine in the near future can grow into a unified position of both delegations."
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The two sides have held three rounds of face-to-face talks in Belarus and have been talking by video conference in recent days.
Russia has suggested its conditions for ending the war would require Ukraine to change its constitution to guarantee it will never join a political bloc, specifically NATO or the European Union, as well as recognizing Crimea as part of Russia and the two Russian-controlled separatist areas in the Donbas region of in eastern Ukraine as independent.
Ukraine previously said Russia continues to demand its surrender.
Ukraine's lead negotiator and presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak also issued a hopeful statement Sunday, saying the two sides are moving toward compromises and that they are now discussing concrete points. Podolyak told the independent Russian newspaper Kommersant that Russia is looking at the situation “far more properly."
"They have started to talk about something and not just throw out ultimatums," Podolyak told the newspaper. But he said more time was needed for Russia to fully understand the reality of its situation and the need to further compromise on its demands.
According to Kommersant, Podolyak said working groups are developing the legal aspects of documents the two sides might eventually be able to sign. For now, both have agreed to keep the proposals confidential until they have an agreement, he said.
He said the negotiations have focused on conditions for a cease-fire and peace agreement, how to compensate Ukraine for the damage to its infrastructure and the process of withdrawing Russian troops. Notably, he said the key point of a peace agreement is the issue of "security guarantees" for both Russia and Ukraine.
“We have all the proposals, which one way or the other protect these interests, get Ukraine out from under attack from the point of view that similar situation won’t be repeated, get Ukraine to some kind of compensatory things in the right sense. And I emphasize again -- the Russian side already looks at [the situation] far more properly. But some time must pass still so they understood 100% the situation in which very much Russia, not Ukraine, has fallen," Podolyak said.
Podolyak said he hopes a fourth round of talks will be held in person.