LONDON, March 7. /TASS/. Russia suggests using the Istanbul agreements as a basis for reconciliation in Ukraine, Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Andrey Kelin said in an interview with Sky News.
"That was a draft, it has not been finished, but it contained very important provisions of what we are talking right now. We suggest that the future negotiations will be based on this draft," he said.
The diplomat went on to say that the draft document, which was nearly agreed in Istanbul, offered guarantees that could prevent a new conflict in the future.
"The government of Ukraine did not accept a peaceful settlement. If you look at what has been achieved in the draft treaty in Istanbul <…> [you can see] that the bulk of political settlement, including the guarantees, was in the treaty," he added.
Since the start of the special military operation, Russia and Ukraine have engaged in negotiations. Initially, they met in Belarus, followed by a meeting in Istanbul in late March 2022. During the Istanbul talks, the delegations initialed a draft agreement that outlined Ukraine's commitments to a neutral, non-aligned status and a pledge not to deploy foreign weapons, including nuclear arms, on its territory.
However, Ukraine unilaterally halted the negotiations. The head of the Ukrainian delegation, David Arakhamia, later admitted that this occurred at the suggestion of then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had traveled to Kiev for this purpose.