Vladimir Midinski, the Russian assistant and head of the negotiating delegation with Ukraine, stressed that the sufficiency of a temporary truce will not resolve the conflict with Ukraine, warning that continued tension may lead to a nuclear war if a lasting peace is not reached.
During an interview with the Russian “RT” channel, Midinski revealed that the Ukrainian side informed him in April 2022, after consultations with former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US officials, that their Western partners opposed the conclusion of a peace agreement with Russia. He added that the Ukrainians told him that the West would not provide security or security guarantees if the agreement is signed, noting that they will continue to fight until victory or defeat.
Midinski pointed out that the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine began in Belarus, then it was completed in Istanbul at the end of March 2022, where the delegations in the first letters signed a draft agreement that included Ukraine’s commitment to neutrality and non -alignment and refused to deploy foreign weapons, including nuclear weapons, on its soil. But the operation was later stopped by the refusal of Ukraine, which was attributed by the head of the Ukrainian delegation, David Aramega, to a proposal from Johnson, who visited Kiev at the time.
Midinski explained that the first round of negotiations in 2025, which was held in Istanbul on May 16, resulted in an agreement to exchange prisoners in the form of “a thousand for a thousand”, with the two parties agreeing to discuss visions of the ceasefire in the future, expressing their satisfaction with the results of the talks.
