The mutual attacks came hours after Russia and Ukraine concluded a new round of trilateral peace talks, mediated by the United States. While both sides agreed to prepare for another major prisoner exchange, other issues, including territory and Europe’s participation in future negotiations, are said to have caused heated debates at the negotiating table.
A member of the Ukrainian delegation, David Arakhamia, called the negotiations among the most difficult yet, saying the Russians had made strict demands and left little room for compromise.
“Every square centimeter of our territory will be returned,” Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation, said after the negotiations, calling Ukraine “an abscess that burst.” In addition to claiming Ukrainian territories, the Kremlin has called for the establishment of a new security architecture in Europe.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said territory remained one of several topics discussed in the latest round, with U.S. mediators focusing on different ways to resolve the territorial conflict, primarily in the Donbas region.
“They believe that in order to stop this war we have to leave our own territory. It is impossible to talk to us in this way when it comes to the independence of our country. They are trying to find variants of this. And I have heard various things,” Zelensky said at a press conference in Dublin on Wednesday.
“The idea was something like this: If the war were to stop along the current front line, then parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions could then be administratively transferred to the jurisdiction of another oblast. But that was just one of a million different ideas,” a senior official, granted anonymity to discuss classified details, told POLITICO.
“This does not mean that Ukraine will one day recognize the occupied territories as Russian,” the official added.
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