Although the main agenda of the Russian-Ukrainian talks held in Istanbul yesterday was the exchange of prisoners and bodies, the fate of missing children and political prisoners, fundamental contradictions still played a major role.
Although the Russian side tried to present the meeting as a humanitarian initiative, Ukrainian representatives called it formal and fruitless. Moscow once again demanded the recognition of Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions as Russian territory, Kyiv's refusal from NATO and transition to neutral status. It is no secret that these conditions clearly contradict Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Although the meeting generally showed that the diplomatic process is ongoing, it revealed that there has been no serious progress on the path to peace.
The Ukrainian side considers dialogue with Russia meaningless
Ukrainian political expert Valery Dymov noted in his interview with APA that the last Russian-Ukrainian meeting held in Istanbul was far from real negotiations, was formal in nature, and no serious result was expected from the beginning.
According to him, the Russian side is still not taking a constructive position and is presenting the "prisoner trade" under the guise of "exchange" with a terrorist approach.
“I had no expectations from this meeting, and what happened in Istanbul was just a meeting, not negotiations... If someone wants to destroy you, and you are fighting for your life, then it is impossible to reach any agreement in such conditions. It is also difficult to come to a common denominator in a situation where someone believes in the devil and you believe in God. If you are facing a murderer who wants to kill you and you still hope for international law, conflict resolution, or that your proposals will be taken seriously, this means not assessing reality correctly. In that case, you are already considered dead. That is why I did not expect any results from this meeting. As a result, this meeting ended as before. Russia, as a terrorist state, has turned the exchange of prisoners into a kind of “trading”. However, given the current situation, we are pleased with the possibility of returning some gravely injured and sick people to Ukraine. The agreement on the return of young people aged 18-25 is especially encouraging. Also, the mutual exchange of 6 thousand bodies is in a sense a result. Because Russia even trades in corpses. We have put forward these proposals many times. Against the background of the chauvinism, sexist rhetoric and general indifference to what is happening demonstrated by Russia, there are reasons to rejoice at these developments. For example, look at what Medinsky said: The issue of supposedly stolen children is propaganda aimed at grandmothers who do not have children in Europe. I do not want to comment on these words, I am just quoting. Such absurd ideas are being voiced that, I think, even Goebbels would have turned in his grave. Now, Russia is actually beginning to accept the fact that the International Criminal Court in The Hague has already confirmed: Putin and his entourage kidnapped Ukrainian children. Today, finally, some children have the opportunity to return to their families," - the expert emphasized.
Positions have been clarified in Istanbul, but there is no result yet
In an interview with APA, the general director of the Caspian Institute for Strategic Studies (Russia) Igor Korotchenko assessed the Russian-Ukrainian meeting in Istanbul as a positive step towards resolving the conflict.
According to him, the Russian side is ready to hand over to Kyiv the remains of 6 thousand dead Ukrainian soldiers: "The second round of negotiations between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul is assessed by Moscow as a positive step aimed at finding ways to resolve the Ukrainian crisis. First of all, of course, on the most important issues - this is the exchange of memoranda of the parties - it was possible to come to an understanding of each other's positions.
Another thing is that the positions of Moscow and Kyiv are diametrically opposed. Nevertheless, I believe that the Russian position, it is worked out in detail, is holistic and fundamental, aimed at implementing specific proposals, after which the Ukrainian conflict from the point of view of the Russian Federation could be considered exhaustive.
Russia also noted the need to resolve humanitarian issues, in particular the problem of political prisoners in Ukraine, who must be immediately released. This concerns a large group of Ukrainian citizens, including prominent politicians and deputies, who are today arrested on false and trumped-up charges and are in SBU pretrial detention centers. As the most outrageous fact of human rights violation in Ukraine, I would note the fate of one of the outstanding engineers and industrialists and, dare I say it, one of the technological geniuses of our time. This is Vyacheslav Boguslayev, the former head of the world-famous engine-building plant "Motor Sich". By the way, he is a Hero of Ukraine, a four-time deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, but under Zelensky, Boguslayev was thrown into the dungeons of the SBU on absolutely false, trumped-up charges of "high treason", and we believe that the main motivation of the Zelensky regime is to remove from the political field of Ukraine the promising, powerful and strong figure of Boguslayev, who in the future could become a consolidator of healthy forces in Ukraine. Therefore, including on the issue of political prisoners, Russia has outlined its principled position. We demand that political prisoners in Ukraine be released without any preconditions and be able to either leave the territory of Ukraine or be protected from further illegal persecution by the Ukrainian special services and law enforcement agencies that carry out a political order."
To what extent are the conditions put forward by Russia suitable for peace?
The conditions put forward by the Russian side are in sharp contrast to the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine recognized by international law. Moscow's demands, such as the recognition of Crimea and other occupied territories as part of the Russian Federation, Ukraine's refusal to join NATO and the adoption of neutral status, are assessed as direct interference in Kyiv's state independence and decision-making sovereignty.
Ukrainian expert Dymov also believes that the conditions put forward by the Russian side are in serious contradiction with the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine: "Moscow demands the recognition of Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions as part of the Russian Federation and states that the status of these territories is not subject to discussion. Also, Ukraine's refusal to join NATO and remaining a neutral state are put forward as a condition. These demands violate the principle of territorial integrity of international law and are assessed as steps aimed at limiting Ukraine's state sovereignty.
Russia is seriously violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country with the conditions it has put forward for peace talks with Ukraine. Moscow demands that Crimea and the four occupied regions be recognized as an integral part of Russia, that Ukraine not join NATO and remain neutral. At the same time, it wants a ban on the deployment of foreign military forces and the import of weapons of mass destruction on Ukrainian territory. These maximalist demands contradict international law.
At the last meeting in Istanbul, Russia presented these conditions in the form of a memorandum only a few hours ago and did not want the participation of the US side. The real goal was to imitate negotiations and continue political pressure. In this way, Putin is trying to block the sanctions of the European Union, while Trump is trying to normalize relations with Russia.
Trump's rhetoric that "only the loser wants peace" encourages Russia to continue terrorist attacks. The Trumpist wing in the US Congress is blocking aid to Ukraine, but recently, initiatives supporting Ukraine have also gained strength in the Senate. The majority of the US public demands that aid to Ukraine be continued and that Putin not be made to compromise. Putin, on the other hand, is trying to gain advantage on both the military and political fronts by playing for time."
According to Igor Korotchenko, in the presented memorandum, Russia demands that Ukraine remain neutral, refuse NATO membership and recognize four new Russian regions, as well as Crimea, as territory of the Russian Federation:
"This means that Ukrainian troops must leave the territory of four subjects of the Russian Federation. These are the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia regions, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces are still partially holding certain positions. Ukraine should also not have weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. And such types of weapons should not be deployed on the territory of Ukraine either now or in the future by third countries. Russia also advocated that there should be no foreign military contingents on the territory of Ukraine. In the military part of the memorandum, Moscow also clearly outlined the need for appropriate comprehensive solutions to verify the fulfillment of the parties' obligations and the waiver of mutual claims for damage caused during military operations.
I would like to emphasize once again that the memorandum from the Russian Federation is balanced, comprehensive, and exhaustive. If it is accepted as a basis, peace will come immediately and this peace will last for a long time. I would very much like to expect that the administration of the 47th US President Donald Trump will carefully study the Russian proposals and at least confirm that they, laid as the foundation for regulating the Ukrainian crisis, will provide an opportunity for a peaceful development of the situation in the near historical perspective. The refusal of the Zelensky regime, as well as the European Union and Great Britain, which stand behind Ukraine, to the memorandum presented by Russia will mean that Moscow will achieve the goals of the special military operation in one way or another by military means," Korotchenko said."
The fate of the missing children
The discussion of specific mechanisms at the Istanbul meeting on the abducted children and the agreements reached on this issue are considered important elements of the negotiations.
According to Ukrainian political scientist Dymov, the Istanbul meeting yielded important but limited results in terms of the return of Ukrainian children: “Of the thousands of abducted Ukrainian children, only a very small part, perhaps one hundred, has the possibility of being returned to Ukraine. Although Russia, as before, denies the abductions, by accepting the submitted lists, it has in fact admitted that these children are on Russian territory. This gives at least a little hope for the families.
The documentation of war crimes continues. The International Criminal Court in The Hague is seriously investigating these issues. The absurd and anti-humanist statements made by the head of the Russian delegation, Medinsky, once again showed the frivolity of the Kremlin’s position.
These abductions of children are not only a military crime, but also a crime against humanity, and will not go unpunished. Even if, as a result of the efforts of the international community and European partners, Russia has agreed to return some children, this can only be the beginning of the process. The Ukrainian side hopes that the fate of other children will be clarified and those responsible will be held accountable before justice."
Russian expert Korotchenko, who commented on the issue, believes that Ukraine is politicizing the issue of missing children: “The issue of the 'missing' of Ukrainian children has been extremely politicized. Of course, we cannot leave children, women, and the elderly alone in the territories that are part of the Russian Federation or that we have liberated today. It is impossible to leave this category of citizens under constant fire and attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Therefore, naturally, these people were evacuated to safer areas. As for the specific mechanism, Medinsky, as the head of the Russian delegation, clearly stated during the Istanbul talks that Russia is ready to discuss all these issues on the condition of a comprehensive assessment of all these issues and monitoring the fate of each person named on the relevant lists.
At the same time, I would like to note that in some areas of the Kursk region, which were temporarily occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, mass atrocities, torture, extrajudicial executions and murders were committed against the Russian civilian population. This is a direct violation of the norms of international humanitarian law. The international community should raise the issue of investigating war crimes committed in these areas by the Ukrainian national units and military personnel of the Armed Forces. These crimes occurred in these areas, that is, in the temporarily occupied parts of the Kursk region, and continued until the Ukrainian army was withdrawn from there."
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