Erdogan claims Ukraine is ready to compromise on 4 of Russia’s 6 key demands
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ukraine is ready to agree to four of Russia's six demands, in particular, to abandon NATO membership and recognize Russian as the second state language, reports the Turkish news agency Anadolu.
"I think there is a consensus on four points in the negotiations. The first point concerns Ukraine's accession to NATO. In the beginning, Ukraine insisted on membership in the Alliance, but soon Zelensky began to talk about the possibility refusing [the idea of Ukraine’s membership in NATO]," Erdogan said.
Also, according to the Turkish President, Zelensky agreed to the recognition of Russian as an official language.
"The Russian language is already spoken almost throughout Ukraine. There are no problems in this regard," Erdogan said.
He noted that there are some agreements on the "demilitarization" of Ukraine as the third point. Erdogan stressed that this does not mean complete disarmament.
The fourth point, according to the President of Turkey, concerns collective security. In this matter, the Ukrainian authorities also showed a positive approach.
Erdogan added that Ukraine does not discuss the fifth and sixth points of the demands of the Russians, namely the recognition of the Russian occupation of the Crimea and the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
According to the Turkish President, Zelensky allegedly plans to hold a referendum on the status of the Donbas.
Erdogan also criticized Western leaders for their lack of resolve in condemning Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in a comment to the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda, denied Erdogan's statement about the consensus with the Russian Federation on the mentioned points.
"In particular, the only state language in Ukraine is and will be Ukrainian. And in general, the classification of key topics of negotiations into four or another number of points is incorrect. Many different issues are discussed simultaneously in the subgroups of delegations," Kuleba said.
He admitted that the negotiation process is very difficult, but the Ukrainian delegation has taken a strong position and does not abandon its demands.
"We insist primarily on a ceasefire, guarantees of security and territorial integrity of Ukraine," Kuleba explained.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister stressed that Ukraine was going to continue the dialogue with Turkey and other interested parties in order to restore peace on Ukrainian soil.
"Using this case, I also remind you that the introduction of new sanctions against Russia and the strengthening of Ukraine's defense capability are no less important factors to stop the Russian military machine and achieve the desired progress in the negotiations," Kuleba concluded.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready to negotiate with Putin, but warned that if the talks fail, it "will mean a third world war."