Moscow expects negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to continue, but “new territorial realities“ must be recognized, as well as a new system of security guarantees to be formed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
According to Lavrov, “for peace to be sustainable, new territorial realities must be recognized and formalized in international legal terms“.
“A new system of security guarantees for Russia and Ukraine must be formed as an integral element of the architecture of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia“, he added.
At the same time, Lavrov said that Moscow expects neutral, non-aligned and nuclear-free status for Ukraine. At the same time, he added that the heads of the Ukrainian and Russian negotiating delegations are in direct contact.
“Three rounds of negotiations were held in Istanbul, during which some progress was made on humanitarian issues: exchange of prisoners of war and detainees, return of the bodies of the killed, etc. In addition, each side outlined its vision of the conditions for ending the conflict. The heads of the delegations are in direct contact. We expect the negotiations to continue“, Lavrov noted, quoted by TASS.
He added that the United States is undertaking active diplomatic efforts regarding Ukraine, and the current contacts between US and Russian Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are full of content.