Ukrainian neutrality only after referendum that ‘could take a year’

Any future neutrality of Ukraine can only be pledged after a referendum. That would require at least three million signatures from the population and could take a year, Ukrainian negotiator David Arachamia said in a TV interview, according to the BBC and The Guardian.

The country’s neutrality, raised during negotiations with Russia in Istanbul, is “a question for the people, not for politicians,” Arachamia said. A referendum is “a lengthy procedure that can only take place in peacetime,” he said.

For example, Russia demands that Ukraine never join NATO. Ukrainian negotiators said on Tuesday that this is possible, but only if major countries, including NATO, offer security guarantees through the UN Security Council.