LIVE: Ceasefire Is Not enough to Lift Sanctions on Russia: UK

On March 29, representatives from Russia and Ukraine met at Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace to try to reach a peace agreement. Initially this meeting was scheduled to last two days and the delegations were expected to discuss a ceasefire. Below are the events as they happen.

The ceasefire is not enough to lift sanctions on Russia. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stressed that an eventual ceasefire in Ukraine will not be enough to lift sanctions against Russia. He believes that the pressure on President Vladimir Putin should be increased with new economic measures and more military aid to Kyev.

Russian delegation reveals proposals discussed with Ukrainian representatives. After the negotiation round, the chief Russian Negotiator Vladimir Medinsky announced that Ukraine had submitted written proposals confirming its “readiness for a neutral, non-aligned and non-nuclear status, along with a refusal to produce and deploy all types of weapons of mass destruction.” , including chemical and bacteriological ones, and a ban on the presence of foreign military bases and foreign troops on the territory of the country.”

According to Sputnik, during the meeting in Istanbul, the parties also discussed the possibility of Russia not objecting to Ukraine joining the European Union.

Belgium and the Netherlands expel Russian diplomats. On Tuesday, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra announced that his country will expel 17 Russian diplomats on the grounds that they “are secretly active as intelligence officers.”

For its part, Belgium also announced the expulsion of 21 Russian diplomats, according to the RTBF radio station.

Russia announces reduction of military activity in Kyev and Chernigov. After negotiations held in Istanbul, Russian Vice Defense Minister Alexandr Fomin announced that his country would reduce its military activity around the Ukrainian capital and the city of Chernigov.

Russia and Ukraine kicked off a fresh round of face-to-face peace talks. Before the meeting, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the time had come for talks to yield concrete results. He called for an immediate ceasefire and said a prolonged conflict is not in anyone’s interest.

“There are no losers from a fair and just peace. The continuation of the war is not to the liking of any of the parties and an immediate ceasefire would benefit all,” Erdogan said.

Since Feb. 28, Russia and Ukraine have held three rounds of face-to-face peace talks and a series of online discussions, failing to reach a major agreement.

Ukraine asks for a multinational guarantee agreement. During the Istanbul meeting, the head of the Ukrainian delegation, David Arahamiya, said that his country is ready to give up any military alliance if a dozen states sign a binding agreement to protect Ukraine against attacks.

“We want an international mechanism that works similar to NATO article 5. We would like the guarantor countries to be the countries of the United Nations Security Council – the United Kingdom, China, Russia, the United States and France – as well as Turkey, Germany, Canada, Poland, and Israel,” he said.

U.S. biological activities in Ukraine a “devil’s plan.” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called Washington’s military biological activities in Ukraine a “devil’s plan.”

“There are too many gaps in this diabolical plan that still have to be filled,” Zakharova said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said earlier that the United States invested more than US$200 million in Ukrainian biolaboratories. In this context, Russia will not rule out the possibility of launching a verification mechanism under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the laboratories in Ukraine were only a small fraction of more than 300 U.S.-funded laboratories currently scattered all over the world, adding that Russia would reveal new documents on their activities.