The raids conducted byUkraine Last Sunday against Russian aerial bases thousands of kilometers from the front do not seem to have changed Russia’s approach to the negotiation table. In the New session of interviews Directly held yesterday in Istanbul, the Moscow delegation presented requests deemed very hard by Kiev both for a ceased the fire and to start a path towards a negotiated solution of the conflict.
The raid with drones
On the eve of the new negotiation round the conflict has returned to intensify with a series of cross attacks who have marked an escalation on the ground. Kiev’s intelligence claimed one vast operation Conduct against Russian military airports located thousands of kilometers from the front line. According to sources of the Ukrainian secret services, 41 bombers were destroyed, for damage estimated in over two billion dollars. Moscow confirmed that “some aircraft” have been affected by shamans of drones, in particular in the airports of the regions of Irkutsk (central Siberia) and Murmansk, in the Russian north-west remote.
Further attacks, defined as “terrorist” by the Russian Ministry of Defense, would have been rejected in three other airports: Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur, the latter located in the Far East of the country. According to Ukrainian sources, the operation, supervised by the head of the SBU Vasyl Malyuk, would have been planned for over a year and would have foreseen the use of commercial FPV drones armed with explosives, hidden in prefabricated and transported housing modules with trucks to the vicinity of the objectives. The operating forces would then act from within the Russian territory.
The Russian Memorandum
As regards Istanbul negotiations, Russia has delivered a memorandum to the Ukrainian delegation. According to the text delivered by the representatives of the Kremlin – and then leaked by the Russian agencies – Moscow places Two alternative conditions To stop hostilities: the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the four regions partially occupied by Russian forces (Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzia and Kherson), or the demobilization of the Ukrainian army, accompanied by the end of western military aid, the revocation of the martial law and the organization of elections within one hundred days.
But not only. In exchange for lasting peace, Moscow also requires the formal recognition ofannexation of those four regions – In addition to Crimea – and Kiev’s commitment to proclaim his own neutralityrenouncing NATO adhesion and to allow the presence of foreign troops on their territory. The imposition of precise limits to the Ukrainian Armed Forces is also required.
The president Volodymyr Zelensky replied by addressing directly to Donald Trumphoping that the former US president – today again on the field – supports sanctions capable of “forcing Russia to cease the fighting”: “We expect strong measures – said Kiev’s leader – to get at least one ceased as a first step”. A similar appeal had been launched shortly before by Vilnius, during a meeting with the NATO countries of the east side.
The hypothesis of new interviews
Although the Russian memorandum has disappointed Ukrainian expectations, the Minister of Defense Rustam Umerov, head of the Kiev delegation, said that “in the coming weeks” the document will be carefully examined. However, Umerov reiterated the request for a ceased temporary fire of at least 30 days and proposed a direct summit between Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, also open to Trump’s participation.
However, a first tangible result came with the announcement of what Medinsky, a Russian leader, called “the largest Exchange of prisoners“Since the beginning of the war: wounded, sick or very young military military would be released. During the talks, the question of Ukrainian minors transferred to Russia, which Kiev considers cases of deportation, has also been discussed. Umerov delivered a list of” several hundred children “, declaring that the return even of half of them would be” a positive signal “. Moscow confirmed that he received 339 names, but he rejected the accusations, Speaking of “saved” children from the fighting and promising the return once parents or guardians have identified.
At the moment the ceased to definitive fire is a mirage. The Russian goal is clear: to carry out hostilities to complete the occupation of the Ukrainian regions illegally already annexed beyond Crimea. Kiev for his part hopes to strengthen his defenses also thanks to the support of the European industry, in particular of the “willing”. The Putin line is to broaden the objectives of the negotiations to get to definitive peace, taking time. Much will also depend on the position of Trump, who for some time has been asking for a definitive truce, so much so that Zelensky to endure sacrifices.
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