Russian delegate says Istanbul talks show progress

By AP 29 March 2022, 6:50 pm

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Security personnel stands guard as Ukrainian delegation cars leave the first Russia and Ukraine face-to-face talks in weeks at Dolmabahce palace in Istanbul, on March 29, 2022, to try and end the nearly five-week-old war which has killed an estimated 20,000 people. (Yasin Akgul/AFP)

ISTANBUL, Turkey — The head of the Russian delegation in talks with Ukraine says that Moscow sees the latest meeting as a step toward compromise.

Vladimir Medinskiy says on Russian RT television that Russia sees Ukrainian proposals made Tuesday during the talks in Istanbul as a “step to meet us halfway, a clearly positive fact.”

He adds that the two parties have a long way to go to reach an agreement.

Medinsky says that Russia made “two big steps toward peace” during the talks, first by agreeing to reduce military activities around the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv.

He says Russia agreed to a prospective meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky once a prospective peace treaty is ready for signing.

The Ukrainian delegation earlier Tuesday said it had laid out a possible framework for a future peace deal based on legally binding security guarantees that would provide for other countries to intervene if Ukraine is attacked.