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

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

As reported by the Ukrainian media, Kyiv Independent, Ukraine has made a series of proposals during the talks held in Turkey's Istanbul on Tuesday. While the Russia-Ukraine has been ongoing for more than a month now, talks between both countries are yet to reach a conclusion. Read on to know about major proposals made 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 the western countries which they 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 the media after the 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 them all.

• In another major proposal made by Ukraine, it has hinted at dropping its ambition to join NATO if the security guarantees are assured firmly. Adding that Ukraine would accept the neutral status, it stated that the country won't join any military-political alliance if the security guarantees work. 
• Ukraine also insisted on its possible membership in the European Union to be not blocked and further 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 the guaranteed states who can exercise military operations in Ukraine. 

Meanwhile, as the 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 Vladimir Medinsky called the meeting "constructive" and further said, "Today's negotiations in Istanbul have demonstrated that Russia may be ready to take steps forward, although it is still a long way to a sustainable ceasefire and comprehensive de-escalation."

Image: AP