In the new round of direct negotiations held in Istanbul, the Russian delegation presented a series of very tough demands for a negotiated peace, or even a simple ceasefire.
To stop hostilities, Russia demands that Kiev withdraw its troops from the four partially occupied regions, handing them over to Moscow's forces, or, alternatively, demobilize and end foreign military assistance.
Volodymyr Zelensky responded by calling on Donald Trump to adopt sanctions against Russia to "force" it to stop the fighting.
"We really expect Trump to take strong measures. We expect him to support sanctions to force Russia to end the war, or at least move to the first phase, which is the ceasefire."
The same request was made this morning while speaking in Vilnius at a summit of NATO countries on the eastern flank.
"If Istanbul leads to nothing, new sanctions from the EU and the US will clearly be necessary ," Zelensky said a few hours before the second round of direct negotiations after the one on May 16.
But the long-awaited memorandum certainly did not meet the Ukrainian leader's hopes. According to the text of the document, distributed to Russian agencies, Moscow is proposing to Kiev two options for reaching a ceasefire.
The first is the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the territory of four regions claimed by the Russians and partially occupied by them: Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
The second option includes, among other things, the beginning of the demobilization of Kiev's forces, the lifting of the state of emergency, the exclusion of the presence of foreign troops in Ukraine, the end of foreign military aid to Kiev, and the holding of elections within one hundred days of the lifting of the state of emergency.
The conditions for a political solution to the conflict are also very tough. Among them: international recognition of Russia's membership in the four regions plus Crimea, annexed in 2014; the declaration of neutrality of Ukraine (which would therefore renounce NATO membership), the ban on military activities in the country of other states and the imposition of precise restrictions on the Ukrainian armed forces.
"It seems that the Russians are dragging their feet again, trying to create a 'diplomatic image' for the United States, but without taking concrete action," the head of the Ukrainian delegation, Defense Minister Rustam Umerov, wrote on Facebook after the talks.
"Our documents were submitted in advance. However, the Russian Federation's 'memorandum' appeared only today (Monday), during the meeting. This created the preconditions for this meeting not to produce the results necessary to end the war," the Ukrainian minister explained.
Umerov said that in any case "over the next few weeks" Kiev would study the memorandum presented by the Russians during the meeting, which took place at the Chiragan Palace and lasted a little over an hour. Umerov, however, repeated his demand for a ceasefire of at least 30 days and a summit meeting between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, also open to Trump. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined the proposal, saying that his "greatest wish" would be for the summit to be hosted in his country.
The US president "said he is open" to a summit if the two rival leaders are willing to "sit down together at the table", the White House said.
The Ukrainian side also indicated the period in which the meeting could take place, from June 20 to 30. But the Russians have repeatedly said that a summit would be useful only after concrete results were achieved in negotiations between the delegations. (A2 Televizion)
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