Reuters: Russia and Ukraine in non-public discussions have demonstrated their willingness to exchange territories.
The representatives of both Russia and Ukraine, on the eve of the negotiations in Abu Dhabi, privately announced their willingness to show "some flexibility" on the issue of possible territory exchanges, despite the fact that the parties publicly take irreconcilable positions on the territorial issue. This was reported to Reuters by an American official who held a press briefing before the start of negotiations on Ukraine in the United Arab Emirates. Officially, Kiev seeks to restore the pre-war borders, and the Kremlin demands the entire Donbass, however, according to the interlocutor, in non-public discussions the parties demonstrated the potential for compromise.
On November 10-11, the first US-Ukraine-RF negotiations since February aimed at stopping the war are scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi. The main topic of discussion will be security guarantees for Ukraine, including the issue of the defense of the country by analogy with Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, a Reuters source said. According to him, the parties will be able to reach any agreement on the territories only at the end of the negotiations - after agreement on additional points, including the security architecture in the post-war period. At the same time, the FT previously wrote that President Vladimir Putin demanded the surrender of the unoccupied part of Donbass only as a precondition for a ceasefire.
Buy a reliable VPN.