Russia and the US see the draft agreements discussed by Moscow and Kiev in the first weeks of the war as a possible basis for a peace agreement. This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by Reuters.
The draft documents discussed at the talks in Istanbul in late March 2022 would oblige Ukraine to abandon its ambitions for NATO membership and accept a permanent neutral and nuclear-free status, in exchange for security guarantees from the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
However, the two sides did not reach an agreement on Russian demands, which include the right to veto actions by guarantor states to assist Ukraine in the event of an attack.
There were very, very convincing and substantial negotiations, shaped into something called the Istanbul Protocol Agreement, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said last month. We were very, very close to signing something, and I think we will use this framework as a reference point to reach a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, he explained.
Dmitry Peskov indicated that Russian President Vladimir Putin also shares the view that the negotiations can use the Istanbul agreements as a starting point.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgy Tykhy said last week that Kiev had not received any proposals from the United States to use the Istanbul documents as a basis for peace talks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently rejected Istanbul’s approach, describing it as an ultimatum demanding his country’s surrender.
President Donald Trump’s push to repair U.S. ties with Russia and bring a swift end to the three-year war has raised concerns in Kiev and among its European allies that Ukraine’s interests could be sacrificed. These fears were heightened after Trump rebuked Zelensky during their meeting at the White House and then suspended U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing with Kiev.