Ukraine and Russia are not going to compromise and each side defends its own positions, commented David Arakhamia, the head of the Ukrainian delegation, and leader of the Servant of the People faction, to journalists of "Nashe misto".
Arakhamia advised that the sides have not signed any document, besides the Istanbul communique.
“The negotiations are pretty hard as none of the sides is going to compromise and both insist on their positions. There are actually no viewpoints for getting closer. Everything depends on the situation on the battlefield. If we have an advantage, we will insist on our positions that they have to agree with. If the situation is different, we will need to examine deeper compromises,” he said.
Arakhamia emphasized that even in the second case, the Ukrainian delegation will not cross the red line of the territorial unity and territories issue.
He added that a big battle is expected in Donbas and it will define the progress of talks, in particular.
The last live meeting of the Ukrainian and Russian delegations took place in Istanbul on 29 March 2022. After that, the negotiations continued online. According to Mykhaylo Podolyak, Ukrainian presidential advisor, the results of the meeting in Istanbul are legal guarantees that provide a new outline of Ukraine’s safety (similar to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty), return of the Crimean issue to the agenda, proof of work of the Ukrainian state system, the start of revision of global safety principles, and the role of institutions.