There is still a lot of work to be done on the draft agreement between Russia and Ukraine, the military and diplomatic services of Kyiv are still far behind the implementation of those agreements that have already been reached at the political level, the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, told Interfax.
“With regard to the readiness of the draft agreement for the summit meeting, to the great regret of optimism [члена делегации Украины Давида] I don’t share Arakhamia,” Medinsky said.
He recalled that Arakhamia announced the agreement of the Russian delegation with the proposals of the Ukrainian side on all issues except Crimea. Medinsky said that the previously agreed positions — Ukraine’s refusal to deploy nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction, join military blocs, deploy foreign troops and offensive missile weapons, and Kyiv’s agreement to conduct exercises involving foreign troops only with the consent of the guarantors (including Russia) — all this was achieved at a meeting in Istanbul. At them, the parties also previously agreed on a system of international security guarantees for neutral Ukraine, he added.
“This is actually what Russia has been stubbornly and consistently seeking since 2014,” Medinsky said. “We understand that Arakhamia is addressing his audience, and if he calls all this the Ukrainian position, then we don’t feel sorry.”
Kyiv announced Moscow’s disagreement on one topic of negotiations