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While the Kremlin mentioned Austria and Sweden as models of neutrality for Ukraine to follow to allow a compromise, kyiv said no, considering itself “at direct war” with Moscow.
Faced with the Russian invasion of its territory, Ukraine categorically rejects any idea of neutrality.
AFP
Ukraine said on Wednesday that it wanted its security against Russia to be guaranteed by foreign powers, rejecting the concept of Swedish or Austrian neutrality put forward by Moscow. “Ukraine is now in a state of direct war with Russia. Therefore, the model can only be ‘Ukrainian’”, declared one of the Ukrainian negotiators in the negotiations with Moscow, Mykhaïlo Podoliak. He said he wanted “absolute security guarantees” against Russia, whose signatories would undertake to intervene on the side of Ukraine in the event of aggression.
“This means that the signatories of the guarantees will not remain on the sidelines in the event of an attack on Ukraine, as is the case today, but that they will take an active part in the conflict alongside the Ukraine” and will provide it “immediately” with the necessary weapons, detailed Mykhaïlo Podoliak. kyiv is also calling for the establishment of a no-fly zone over Ukraine in the event of an offensive against its territory, he added.
Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky had mentioned Austria and Sweden as models of neutrality for Ukraine to follow to allow a compromise. A round of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations has been underway since Monday, and a new meeting by videoconference is scheduled for Wednesday.
Austria, only within the framework of the UN
Sweden, officially non-aligned, is not a member of NATO, although it has been a partner in the military alliance since the mid-1990s and has gradually moved closer to it in recent years. The country abandoned its neutrality at the end of the Cold War, a period also coinciding with its entry into the European Union (1995). Austria, for its part, is neutral and cannot send soldiers to a field of war outside of UN missions.
On Tuesday, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, took a step in the direction of the Russians by estimating that it was necessary to “recognize” that his country would never join the Atlantic alliance. This case is one of the reasons put forward by Russia to justify its offensive in Ukraine, Moscow considering NATO as an existential threat.
(AFP)