The Ukrainian delegation handed over a draft agreement to Russia. It provides the guarantee mechanism
- Author:
- Kostia Andreikovets
- Date:
Members of the Ukrainian delegation at a briefing in Istanbul spoke about a draft agreement with Russia that could end the war. It concerns international security guarantees.
The head of the delegation David Arakhamiya noted that now Ukraine is not signing anything with Russia, Russia has received the project and must now give its answer. "We are not signing anything, anything at all now. At the moment, there is the issue of international security guarantees for Ukraine, working, specific guarantees, and not such as the invalid Budapest Memorandum," he said.
Ukraine wants to get an international agreement, according to which in case of danger to Ukraine, all guarantors will have to decide on effective steps within 3 days. These include closing the skies over Ukraine, military and defense aid. Among the guarantor countries, Ukraine wants to see Russia, China, the United States, Britain, Canada, Italy, Germany, France, Poland, and Israel. According to Arakhamiya, some of these countries have already given their prior consent.
At the same time, the draft states that Ukraine is joining the European Union and the guarantors must contribute to this in every possible way.
Security guarantees will temporarily not work for the occupied Donbas and Crimea. The status of Crimea will be fixed between Russia and Ukraine and will be the subject of discussions for the next 15 years, provided there are no hostilities. The issue of Donbas is made in a separate item, which will be discussed directly between the Presidents of Ukraine and Russia.
This agreement must first be approved in a referendum by Ukrainians, and then ratified by the parliaments of Ukraine and the guarantor countries.
If the treaty is ratified, Ukraine will be a neutral and non-aligned country.