Ukraine drops plans to join NATO as part of de-escalation talks amid war, seeks neutrality

In a series of proposals me on Tuesday, Ukraine has expressed its willingness to resolve ongoing conflict with Russia. peace talks held on Tuesday me little progress as  Russian delegation has agreed on withdrawing its troops near capital city of Kyiv and Chernihiv, while Ukraine has also proposed to drop its ambition of joining NATO on grounds of security guarantees. 

As reported by Ukrainian media, Kyiv Independent, Ukraine has me a series of proposals during talks held in Turkey's Istanbul on Tuesday. While Russia-Ukraine has been ongoing for more than a month w, talks between both countries are yet to reach a conclusion. Re on to kw about major proposals me by Ukraine during its talks with Russia in Istanbul. 

Major proposals tabled by Ukraine in peace talks with Russia

• Ukraine has sought "legally binding security guarantees" from western countries which y have clearly stated should be equivalent to or at least better than NATO's collective security. 

Referring to NATO's Article 5, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia spoke to media after talks and said that an international mechanism of security guarantees has been sought where tge guarantor countries will act in a similar way to NATO's Article 5 or more strongly. 

NATO’s Article 5 commits each member state to consider an armed attack against one member state to be an armed attack against m all.

• In ar major proposal me by Ukraine, it has hinted at dropping its ambition to join NATO if security guarantees are assured firmly. ding that Ukraine would accept neutral status, it stated that country won't join any military-political alliance if security guarantees work. 
• Ukraine also insisted on its possible membership in European Union to be t blocked and furr asked for security guarantees to pledge for supporting Ukraine's succession process. 
• Ukraine has also asserted that it won't be hosting any foreign military base on its territory except for guaranteed states who can exercise military operations in Ukraine. 

Meanwhile, as Russia-Ukraine talks in Turkey have come to an end, it has shown positive signs while Russia has expressed its willingness to move forward. Russia's chief negotiator Vlimir Medinsky called meeting "constructive" and furr said, "Today's negotiations in Istanbul have demonstrated that Russia may be rey to take steps forward, although it is still a long way to a sustainable ceasefire and comprehensive de-escalation."

Im: AP