Russia and Ukraine nod with greater optimism and talk about an agreement “in the coming days” – 03/13/2022 – The World

in the same day Russian forces attacked targets in Ukraine near the Polish borderreferring to a Escalation of War Tensions in Eastern EuropeMoscow and Kiev gave the most optimistic signals yet, saying the talks could lead to an agreement “in the next few days”.

The first manifestation of the Ukrainian side came from Mikhailo Podolako, who is involved in negotiations with the neighboring country and is an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky. On Sunday (13) he said Ukraine had no plans to back down, but said the talks had progressed.

“We will not, in principle, concede any position, and Russia understands that now. [Mas] Russia has already begun to speak constructively, he said in a video posted on social media. And I think we’ll have some results literally in a matter of days. He added, “Our demands are an end to the war and the withdrawal of forces. I see an understanding and there is a dialogue,” he wrote in the sequel.

On the Russian side, the RIA quoted negotiator Leonid Slutsky, for whom talks have made significant progress. “According to my expectations, this progress can grow in the coming days in a common position of both delegations, in documents for signature,” Slutsky said.

However, neither side indicated the scope of the agreement. The comments were made around the same time, on the eighteenth day of the war, which began on February 24.

Also on Sunday, the United States confirmed the impression that Russia wants to negotiate. In an interview with Fox News, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Washington was putting strong pressure on Moscow and that “that pressure is starting to have some effect.”

“We are seeing some indications of serious and real negotiations,” she said, noting that “so far it seems that Vladimir Putin is bent on destroying Ukraine.” Thousands of people were killed, according to the Ukrainian government, and more than 2.5 million people have already left the country. Ukraine has said it is ready to negotiate but will not accept any ultimatums.

Ukraine and Russia have already achieved three Trading tours in Belarusa Putin-allied dictatorship, focused on humanitarian issues and opening corridors for civilians to leave the country.

On Friday, the Russian president said there had been some “positive changes” in the negotiations, but did not provide further details. The Kremlin said on Saturday that discussions between Russian and Ukrainian officials continued “in video format” after face-to-face meetings in Belarus.

On Thursday (10), a Counselors Sergey Lavrov and Dimitro Kuleba also met in Turkeyin their highest diplomatic meeting to date, but they did not announce any progress toward ending the conflict.

A Kremlin spokesman said on Monday that Russia was ready to quickly halt military operations if Kyiv fulfills the list of conditionssuch as recognizing Crimea as Russian territory and the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states.

In an interview with ABC last week, President Zelensky, in turn, said that it was possible to “discuss and find a compromise on how these lands continue to live,” adding: “We are not ready to surrender. [rendição]”.

In the same interview, he said that he is reconsidering the country’s membership in NATO, one of the motives for the war, after realizing that the alliance is not ready to accept Ukraine for fear of controversial issues.