Ukraine proposes neutrality, Russia to scale down
STORY: Ukraine negotiators say they offered to adopt a neutral status in exchange for security guarantees on Tuesday (March 29) - a step that marked the most significant progress in talks to date.
The proposal followed the first face-to-face meetings with Russia in nearly three weeks.
Ukraine says it would not join military alliances or host military bases, but proposed its security would be guaranteed by similar terms to NATO's "Article 5" collective defense clause.
Kyiv identified Israel and NATO members Canada, Poland and Turkey as countries that could help provide such guarantees.
The Ukraine proposals also include a 15-year consultation period on the status of annexed Crimea.
But they could only come into force following a complete ceasefire.
Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia.
"In order for this agreement to be valid, and for all sides to agree on it, there has to be full peace on Ukraine's territory, no foreign troops, all have to leave.
// Our proposition has not been accepted by Russia yet. We are just handing it over to the Russian side today. We are saying: ‘This is our position. We are giving you our official position.’ And then we will wait for their answer.”
Ukrainian television reported the face-to-face talks in Istanbul began with "a cold welcome."
But their resumption is seen as an important step towards a ceasefire.
Ukrainian negotiators believe the new proposals are sufficient to warrant a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia is yet to respond to that. But Moscow did confirm it would drastically cut its military activity around Kyiv and Chernihiv to create the conditions for dialog.
All that came just hours after a Russian rocket hit the regional administration building in Mykolaiv earlier on Tuesday, killing at least three people and wounding others, according to the local authorities.
Video showed a large hole in the side of a building.
Mykolaiv is among the southern port cities standing in the way of Russia establishing a land corridor to Crimea.
Heavily bombed Mariupol shares that fate.
MARIUPOL RESIDENT, DESIGN ENGINEER, IRINA, SAYING: "We had a beautiful life, just beautiful! ….Now we have nothing, just nothing."
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbor's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.
The West says Russia launched an unprovoked war.
