Filenews 25 March 2022
Taking advantage of the role of mediator, which he appears to have assumed between Russia and Ukraine, Turkey's president argued today that there is progress in negotiations between the two sides on four of the six points Moscow has set to stop combat operations.
These are as follows:
- Ukraine's retreat on NATO membership
- Zelensky's acceptance to be recognized as an official language in Ukraine and Russian
- The issue of the disarmament of Ukraine, where Kiev seems ready to make "some concessions"
- Collective security.
However, there has been no progress on the issue of annexing Crimea and the Russian presence in Donbass.
As reported by the Turkish media, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said:
"There seems to be some convergence on four issues. One of them relates to NATO. Ukraine initially insisted on joining, but then Zelensky said he could withdraw the candidacy for membership. Another issue is to make Russian the official language of the state. Zelensky has accepted it. So anyway, Russian is spoken almost everywhere in Ukraine."
According to the Turkish president, the other "issue is disarmament. Of course Ukraine is an independent state, but this issue, too, is not uncontroversial. In other words, the Ukrainians accept that some concessions can be made on this issue as well."
Putin to make a decent exit
On Zelensky's statements that there should be a referendum if a compromise is found with Moscow, Erdogan commented that they show a "smart leadership."
For his upcoming conversation with President Putin, he stressed, according to CNN, that he should find a way to make a "dignified exit" and that they will discuss and evaluate the NATO summit in Brussels.
"On the other hand, we (Turkey) definitely consider the use of weapons of mass destruction as a crime against humanity, he added.
in.gr
