[Epoch Times, March 20, 2022](Epoch Times reporter Zhang Ting comprehensive report) In an interview published by the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet on Saturday (March 19), Turkish Presidential Spokesperson and Advisor Yi Yi İbrahim Kalin said Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed six conditions for a ceasefire with Ukraine in a March 17 phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In the Russian-Ukrainian war that broke out on February 24, Turkey tried to position itself as a middleman between Russia and Ukraine. Kalin said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered to host Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Turkey to facilitate talks and end the war.
Although Zelensky has repeatedly said that he is ready to meet Putin, Kalin said Putin raised several issues that need to be resolved between the leadership talks in Russia and Ukraine during the call with Erdogan.
Kalin was one of several officials who listened to Putin and Erdogan’s call.
Kalin told the Free Press that one of the conditions put forward by Putin is that Ukraine should remain neutral and give up joining NATO; the second is disarmament and mutual security based on the Austrian neutrality model; the third is what Russia calls “denazification” process; the fourth is to remove obstacles to the widespread use of Russian in Ukraine. It is understood that in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine negotiations, some progress has been made on the first four articles. But it is too early to say that a comprehensive agreement has been reached or that it is about to be signed.
Kalin added that Putin’s other two demands were the “most difficult”, one for the recognition of the annexation of Crimea and the other for the recognition of two “so-called” republics in Ukraine’s Donbas region. The last two issues “are demands that Ukraine and the international community cannot accept,” Kalin said.
Carlin said in the interview that Articles 5 and 6 could be negotiated at the leadership level if an agreement is reached on the first four requirements.
Carlin added that if leadership talks would take place, “it is possible to reach a deal and end the war”. Erdogan urged Putin to make the ceasefire permanent.
Erdogan told Putin that reaching an agreement on certain issues may require a meeting between leaders, the Turkish presidency’s office said in a statement on March 17 in response to the call between Erdogan and Putin.
Kalin also referred to Putin’s ceasefire conditions in an interview with the BBC, saying that the first four demands were not too difficult for Ukraine to meet. But Kalin did not elaborate on Putin’s last two demands to the BBC, saying only that they concerned the status of the Donbass in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbass have seceded from Ukraine; also, the status of Crimea.
Russia’s chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said on March 18 that Moscow and Kyiv had moved “as close as possible” to each other’s position on Ukraine’s proposal to become a neutral country.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president who was involved in the negotiations, said Ukraine’s position had not changed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky again urged a meeting with Putin on Saturday. “It’s time to talk,” he called to Russia in a video message.
Responsible editor: Lin Yan#