Ukraine Rejects Neutrality In Peace Discussions

Ukraine has reportedly rejected Russian claims that it was open to adopting a model of neutrality comparable to Sweden in peace talks, reported the Independent on Wednesday.

Russian negotiators said that Kyiv had offered to become a de-militarised state, but Ukraine responded by saying that it needs “legally verified security guarantees” and would not accept any other model.

Although Moscow and Kyiv both said on Wednesday that they had made progress on the terms of a deal, Ukrainian officials remain skeptical Russian president Vladimir Putin is fully committed to peace and worry that Moscow could be buying time to regroup its forces and resume its offensive.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, told the Financial Times that any deal would involve “the troops of the Russian Federation in any case leaving the territory of Ukraine” captured since the invasion began on February 24th – namely southern regions along the Azov and Black Seas, as well as territory to the east and north of Kyiv.

Ukraine would maintain its armed forces but would be obliged to stay outside military alliances such as Nato and refrain from hosting foreign military bases on its territory.

Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that neutrality for Ukraine based on the status of Austria or Sweden was a possibility.