Russia/ Ukraine: Ukraine Admits WMD development and/or possession

It doesn’t seem there are any talks for tomorrow. Perhaps the talks are unnecessary at this time? Perhaps the talks went well enough for now?

Outcome of Istanbul talks: Ukrainian proposals, Russian de-escalation steps

According to head of the Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky, Kiev’s proposals will be studied in the near future and reported to the president, and then Moscow will come back with a response

MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/. The Russian-Ukrainian talks that took place in Istanbul on Tuesday were constructive, the head of the Russian delegation, Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky, told reporters.

He said Moscow made two de-escalatory steps. One was offering to hold a meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky simultaneously with the initialing of a peace treaty by their Foreign Ministries, or earlier than planned before. In the other step, Russian troops would drastically reduce their activities toward Kiev and Chernigov.

The talks were supposed to last two days – March 29 and 30 – but sources in the Russian delegation and the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the round was over and the meeting on Wednesday was off.

TASS has put together the highlights that’s been reported about the outcome of the latest round of talks.

Two de-escalatory steps

The Russian delegation in Istanbul has received from their Ukrainian counterparts a “clearly phrased position,” Medinsky said. Kiev’s proposals, he said, will be studied in the near future and reported to the president, and then Moscow will come back with a response.

In addition, the official said, Russia is making two de-escalation steps, in the political and military areas. The first step is that Russia is offering Kiev to move forward the possible meeting between the countries’ leaders. While initially Putin and Zelensky were supposed to meet after their Foreign Ministries initial a peace treaty, now these two events are proposed to be held simultaneously.

The second step was announced by Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. “As the talks <…> are moving on to the practical terms, the Russian Defense Ministry <…> has decided to drastically <…> reduce military activity toward Kiev and Chernigov,” he said.

Ukrainian proposals

The Ukrainian written proposals include a ban on the production and deployment of weapons of mass destruction, as well as a ban on the deployment of foreign military bases in Ukraine, Medinsky told TASS. He later told reporters that Kiev’s position also implies refusal to pursue a return of Crimea and Sevastopol to Ukraine by military force.

Interesting Ukraine provided written proposals including a ban on the production and deployment of weapons of mass destruction- Is this a reference to chemical or biological weapons that were most probably being worked on, clandestinely, in the Ukrainian labs- Clearly it is!

UN in NY: “Network of 30 biological laboratories formed in Ukraine”- GoF Research

The U.S. military refers to WMD as: Chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons capable of a high order of destruction or causing mass casualties and exclude the means of transporting or propelling the weapon where such means is a separable and divisible part from the weapon. Also called WMD.

Diplomatic Viruses

Alexander Chaly, a member of the Kiev delegation, said that Ukraine agreed to adopt a neutral and non-nuclear status if it were given security guarantees, which “in content and form should be similar to Article 5” of the North Atlantic Treaty. According to him, the guarantees should envisage military assistance and the establishment of a no-fly area after three days of consultations in order to pursue a diplomatic solution.

The guarantors, according to Kiev, could include permanent members of the UN Security Council (including Russia), as well as Germany, Israel, Italy, Canada, Poland and Turkey.

Their guarantees wouldn’t cover Crimea and Donbass, according to the head of the parliamentary faction of Ukraine’s ruling Servant of the People party, David Arakhamiya, who is taking part in the talks.

Kiev also demands that the guarantor countries help Ukraine join the European Union “as soon as possible”.

If security guarantees don’t include Crimea or the Donbass area- Ukraine joining the EU is ‘dead in the water’ as a negotiating point. I can’t see the EU having much use for them without Crimea or Donbass. Considering the Black Sea access would be practically non existent

Russia, Ukraine Talks Yield Progress, Tame European Natural Gas Prices – LNG Recap

Gains in European natural gas prices were pared Tuesday after peace talks between Russia and Ukraine finally yielded some signs of progress.

While the Title Transfer Facility finished higher Tuesday, gains were muted after Russia said it would cut military operations in the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Chernihiv. After talks in Turkey, officials also reportedly said that a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could be set if a peace agreement is drafted.

The conflict in Ukraine has kept the market on edge over the possibility that Russia could shut off supplies to Europe in retaliation to Western sanctions or due to infrastructure damage. Prices charged higher early Tuesday after the Kremlin said late Monday it was working on implementing payments for gas exports in rubles from European buyers. Gazprom PJSC and the Russian central bank are expected to present proposals Thursday.

Lastly. India has been doing a better job of covering this conflict. The 5/6 eyes media is a bad joke. On us.