Filenews 29 March 2022
Adopting a regime of neutrality in exchange for security guarantees, which means that it will not join military alliances or host military bases on its territory, Ukraine proposed in its talks with Russia in Istanbul.
The proposals would also include a 15-year consultation period on the status of annexed Crimea and could only take effect in the event of a full ceasefire, negotiators told reporters in Istanbul.
The proposals are the most detailed and specific that Ukraine has made public so far.
They also provide for security guarantees along the lines of Article 5 of the NATO military alliance, the collective defence clause. Poland, Israel, Turkey and Canada could be among the possible security guarantors.
"If we manage to consolidate these basic provisions, and for us this is the most fundamental, then Ukraine will be able to truly define its current status as a country not integrated into a coalition and as a non-nuclear power in the form of permanent neutrality," said negotiator Alexander Chali.
"We will not host foreign bases on our territory, nor will we deploy military divisions on our territory, and we will not join a military-political alliance," he added. "Military exercises on our territory shall be conducted with the consent of the guarantor countries."
In the current Ukrainian proposals there was enough evidence to justify a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian negotiators said, adding that they await Russia's response.
