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Ukraine is seeking concrete security guarantees during peace negations in Turkey, including promises of military assistance during a future conflict from the world’s “leading armies,” including those with nuclear weapons, in exchange for adopting neutral status.
“The Treaty on Security Guarantees essentially assumes, not in theory, but in practice, to obtain an effective instrument for protecting our territory and sovereignty,” Mihailo Podolyuak, top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said of the talks. “The guarantor countries become, so to speak, the leading armies of the world, including those with a nuclear component, which take on specific legal obligations — to intervene in any conflict on the territory of Ukraine, to immediately supply weapons.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (House Television via AP)
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Ukraine proposed that it would remain militarily neutral but was also seeking “mandatory entry into the single market of the European Union as a full-fledged member.”
Podolyuak stressed the importance of NATO countries such as the U.S., U.K., Turkey and Germany being signatories of any potential treaty, arguing that their support would help “avoid the traditional Russian non-binding nature of legal treaties.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
The comments come as the latest round of peace negotiations, which were facilitated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has made progress towards a resolution to the conflict.
According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to meet with Zelenskyy to initial any treaty once negotiations have concluded, a sign that both sides are warming to potential progress.
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Destroyed shopping center after it was hit in a military strike in the Podilskyi residential district of Kyiv, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 21, 2022. (Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
But Ukraine’s demands could still be a roadblock for Russia, author and former DIA agent Rebekah Koffler told Fox News Digital Tuesday.
“There’s a huge gap between the positions of the two countries,” Koffler said. “What Ukraine is looking for is not acceptable to Russia.”
Koffler said that the security guarantees Ukraine is seeking “basically amount to NATO membership,” making the prospects of an actual agreement “unachievable.”
“The Russians are not going to go for that, because the whole point of this conflict is to prevent Ukraine from becoming a NATO member,” Koffler said, noting that Russia views Ukrainian NATO membership as an “existential threat” to its security.
Russia promised to limit operations near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in what Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky classified as a show of good will, though Russian forces have continued the shelling of targets in northern Ukraine as negotiations have been ongoing.
But Koffler said that its more likely Russia is using the negotiations as a “tactic” to allow it to regroup.
“Regretfully, this negotiation is another tactic by Putin to buy time to regroup and cause confusion among European and U.S. leaders and, most importantly, our intelligence services,” Koffler said, adding that she doubts Russia is actually negotiating “in good faith.”