President Russia Vladimir Putin reportedly called the President Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul, Thursday (17/3), noon local time, laid out the four demands that were asked of Mr Ukraine.
CNN Indonesia quote from exclusive coverage BBC NewsRussia will halt its attacks on Ukraine when all four demands are met.
BBC journalists report that the two heads of state had telephone conversations for about an hour and a half. Erdogan’s spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, was one of those who heard the conversation between Erdogan and Putin via the telephone.
The four demands that Putin asked for fall into two categories.
In the two demands in the first category, Putin asked Ukraine to be a neutral country and not to join the North Atlantic Defense Alliance (NATO).
Kalin said that Russia’s demands were not difficult to fulfill. However, Ukraine is said to be still struggling to meet Russia’s other two demands.
Another demand is that Russia ask Ukraine to disarm or demilitarize to ensure it is not a threat to the Kremlin.
Putin also asked that Ukraine should guarantee the protection of its Russian-speaking citizens and carry out Denazification.
Russian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s demands may also be difficult to accept. For Zelensky, the demands for Denazification deeply offended him because he himself came from a Jewish family who had been victims of the Nazis.
However, Turkey thinks Zelensky will in turn accept Russia’s demands. For Turkey, it may be enough for Zelensky to criticize Neo-Naziism in Ukraine.
(bin)
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