Although Russia and Ukraine have drawn closer to each other on their negotiating positions to end the current conflict, there are still issues that are difficult to compromise, Turkey said.
In an interview with Al Jazeera news agency on March 20, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said that Ankara is still making efforts to promote negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to end the conflict.
Mr. Kalin said that the delegations of Russia and Ukraine are negotiating on six points including: Neutrality; disarmament and security guarantee for Ukraine; the process of "de-fascistization"; remove barriers to the use of Russian in Ukraine; the status of the breakaway Donbass region and the Crimean peninsula.
"The most difficult issues to agree on are Russia's request to recognize the Crimean peninsula belonging to Russia, recognize the independence of two breakaway regions in the Donbass. Those are the main issues and I think are also the aspects. "The four other topics discussed were Ukraine's neutrality, disarmament, security commitments to Ukraine and the de-fascistization of Ukraine," Kalin said.
On the same day, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Russia and Ukraine have moved closer in negotiations, although some outstanding issues between the two sides still need to be resolved at the presidential level.
"Of course, it's not easy to reach an agreement with the fighting going on and the civilian deaths, but we want to say that the momentum is continuing," Cavusoglu said.
Turkey has good relations with both Russia and Ukraine, but the current conflict between the two countries also affects Ankara and the world. Therefore, Ankara is trying to play the role of mediator to push Moscow and Kiev to reach an agreement to end the conflict.
Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24 with a statement to "demilitarize", "de-fascistize" Ukraine and protect the people of the separatist Donbass region. Conflicts continue to escalate in strategic Ukrainian cities despite negotiations between the two sides. Moscow has offered a series of conditions to end the military campaign, but Kiev also has "red lines" that cannot be compromised.
Speaking to the media on March 20, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky affirmed that Kiev will not compromise on the issue of territorial integrity.
"We will not compromise on any issues related to sovereignty and territorial integrity," Zelensky said, but stressed that the only way to end the conflict is through negotiations.
Crimea was annexed to Russia in 2014 after a referendum that Ukraine and the international community did not recognize. Meanwhile, Russia's recent recognition of "independence and sovereignty" for the two breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in Donbass, eastern Ukraine, has also met with opposition from Kiev and internationally.
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