Ukraine Proposes Neutrality in Exchange for Security Guarantees

The neutral status would mean that Ukraine will not join military alliances or host military bases on its soil.

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators met for the first in-person talks in almost three weeks in Istanbul on Tuesday, 30 March.

(Photo: PTI)

Ukraine proposed a permanent neutrality status in exchange for security guarantees, at a meeting with Russian negotiators in Turkey on Tuesday, 29 March, in an effort to get Russia to scale down its war on the country, reported Reuters.

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators met for the first in-person talks in almost three weeks in Istanbul, with Ukraine seeking a ceasefire without compromising on its territory.

The permanent neutral status would mean that Ukraine will not join military alliances or host military bases on its soil.

This is the first time that Ukraine has put forth a detailed and concrete resolution plan to end the war with Russia.

Officials told reporters in Istanbul that the proposal also includes a 15-year consultation period on the Russia-annexed Crimea, which would be effective in the event of a complete ceasefire.

Ukraine Proposes Security Guarantees

As per a report by Reuters, Ukrainian negotiator Oleksander Chaly said during a broadcast on national television, “We will not host foreign military bases on our territory, as well as deploy military contingents on our territory, and we will not enter into military-political alliances.”

Ukrainian negotiators have proposed security guarantees along the lines of the NATO military alliance's Article 5, which provides that all members will back up an ally subjected to an armed attack.

Poland, Israel, Turkey, and Canada might be considered among potential security guarantors.

Chaly said, “If we manage to consolidate these key provisions, and for us this is the most fundamental, then Ukraine will be in a position to actually fix its current status as a non-bloc and non-nuclear state in the form of permanent neutrality.”

The current proposals seem to be strong enough to warrant a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as per Ukrainian negotiators.

They said that they were now awaiting Russia's response.

(With inputs from Reuters.)