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Positions of Moscow, Kiev aligned positions on the most Ukraine’s neutral status — envoy

Vladimir Medinsky noted that these issues include nuances, connected to guarantees of security for Ukraine

MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. Ukraine’s neutral status and its non-accession to NATO are the issues where positions of Moscow and Kiev align the most, Russian delegation head, Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky said Friday.

"The issue of neural status of Ukraine and its non-accession to NATO is one of key points of the talks; this is the point where the sides aligned their positions the most," he said.

Medinsky noted that these issues include nuances, connected to guarantees of security for Ukraine.

"Nuances, connected to what guarantees of security would Ukraine get in addition to already existing ones, should it reject accession to NATO," he explained.

The first round of Russian-Ukrainian talks took place on February 28 in Belarus. Later, the sides met on March 3 and March 7, also in Belarus. On March 10, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba met in Turkey’s Antalya. Currently, the negotiations proceed daily via online mode.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.

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Ukraine crisis Ukraine

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