Kiev may be pressured by the US, which will insist on the participation of a Ukrainian delegation in the talks with Russia in Istanbul on June 2, even if Moscow does not provide the memorandum that Ukraine demands in advance, The Washington Post writes.
As the media claims, the “deadlock“ in which the parties found themselves in negotiating the terms of settling the Ukrainian conflict has put the Kiev authorities “in an awkward diplomatic position“.
The newspaper writes that Ukraine has “little room to maneuver“ due to its dependence on American military and intelligence assistance. Against this background, Washington has the opportunity to put pressure on Kiev to ignore its demands, which include Russia providing memorandum before the talks and an unconditional ceasefire, and to send a delegation to the talks in Istanbul, scheduled for June 2.
Earlier, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, the head of the Ukrainian delegation to the talks, Rustem Umerov, said that Kiev “is not against“ meetings with the Russian side, but before they begin, it is waiting for a memorandum from Moscow. The press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov called Ukraine's request for “immediate presentation of the memorandum “unconstructive”. He stressed that the most important thing now is to continue the process of direct negotiations.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced the second round of talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, scheduled for June 2. The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that the head of the delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, will hand over to Ukraine a memorandum from Russia on all aspects of overcoming the root causes of the crisis. The previous round of talks was held on May 16 and ended with agreements on the exchange of prisoners according to the formula “1000 for 1000“ and the presentation of a vision for a possible future ceasefire. Both sides expressed satisfaction with the results of the meeting.