Russian-Ukrainian relations have long stood on the brink of the crater of war, especially since Russia annexed the Crimea Peninsula in 2014 until February 2022. The conflict escalated shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 21 announced the recognition of the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) in Donbass, Eastern Ukraine. Subsequently, in response to the demands of the DPR and LPR leaders, on February 24, Putin decided to conduct a special military operation in eastern Ukraine to demilitarize Ukraine. Putin stated that Russia has no plans to invade Ukrainian territory and that the purpose of the operation is to protect the people of the Donbass region from suffering as a result of the conflict over the years. Responding to Russia's move, Ukrainian President Zelensky issued orders to establish laws across the country, and announced the severance of diplomatic ties with Moscow. It was seen as an assumption of a war leading to a serious risk of a security crisis in Europe between NATO and Russia in the post-Cold War confrontation.

  The Ukraine crisis immediately created a dire, threatening peace in Europe, especially where “civilians” would suffer the most disastrous consequences of the war. In the face of deep, intractable disagreements of opinion between the parties, an opening of a negotiated diplomatic negotiation on the issue of peace is most essential for peace to ease the escalating conflict confrontation. Since the special military operation launched so far by President Putin, the two diplomatic missions have held four rounds of negotiations on a humanitarian peace agreement on the territory of Ukraine. Let's join DAVMUN to review some key points of the diplomatic round of negotiations that are extremely balanced between the two lines!

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1. The first round of negotiations

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  Russia and Ukraine joined the round of talks in Gomel province on the border between Belarus and Ukraine on February 28 with the aim of finding a “common voice” between the two sides, just less than a week Russian president Putin directed a special military operation in Ukraine to discourage the Kiev authorities from making concessions. A number of agreements between the two sides have been made in order to accelerate the “halting” process, the actions escalated in the past days after the special military operation began.

  According to the Belta news agency, Mikhail Podolyak, the adviser to the office of the president of Ukraine confirmed that the two sides' delegation had identified the issues that should be addressed first, certain solutions were outlined in the discussion. As for Russia, Mr. Medinsky also announced that Russia and Ukraine have found common ground in the negotiation process on the following issues: humanitarian assistance for refugees, ceasefire agreement, cessation of the demilitarization process...The Kremlin's response was that there were no plans to suspend military operations during the negotiation period. The Russian delegation was headed by Russian aide Vladimir Medinsky. The Ukrainian delegation included: Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, Deputy Foreign Minister Mykola Tochytskyi... In order to get this face-to-face negotiation, both sides have been through “bargains” about the venue. On the eve of the first round of negotiations, Mr Medinsky insisted on the issue of Russia's always wanting to reach peace agreements and the rights of each side with the Ukrainian delegation as soon as possible. As for Ukraine, its president's office also gave instructions that Kiev itself considers an immediate ceasefire and that Russia needs to withdraw its troops from its territory as key issues within the framework of the first round of talks. The fact that Russia and Ukraine agreed to sit at the diplomatic negotiating table to resolve disagreements between the two sides was welcomed by politicians, academics and the international community. In particular, during this first round of talks, the role of mediating disagreements of views between the two sides was assumed by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Source:https://tuoitre.vn/dam-phan-nga-ukraine-vong-2-thong-nhat...https://english.news.cn/.../d911989db66744a79b56ca.../c.html

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2. The second round of negotiations

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  Russia and Ukraine participated in the next round of talks in the Brest region of Belarus on March 3, 2022. Key "humanitarian" issues to help civilians and a series of goals to reduce armed conflict in the temporary war zone were brought to the table of the 2nd negotiation. Although there has not been much strong impact on the political stance of the two sides, it has opened a “more humane and peaceful” door for civilians and fostered security progress in Eastern Europe.

  The second round of talks was officially opened less than a week later (March 3, 2022), suggesting that the course of the Ukraine crisis would have an outlet open to the interests of each side. The Ukrainian president's adviser also said Ukraine's agenda was to agree to an immediate ceasefire and organize humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to leave communities on the front lines. On the eve of the talks, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is confident of finding a solution to the current crisis and says Russia's demands are minimal to be assured. He also added that Russia cannot allow Ukraine to pose a threat to the country's security. However, in the view of foreign minister Lavrov that Kiev is not acting independently in the negotiations but is relying too much on the “guidance” of the US and its allies. In the course of the political negotiations, both the Russian and Ukrainian sides agreed to create humanitarian corridors for the evacuated civilians, evacuated from the dangerous areas the parties are fighting in Ukraine. And according to AFP sources, an adviser to the Ukrainian president said the deal was the only clear advance in the second round on March 3rd. It shows that ensuring the safety of the people who suffer the worst consequences that the governments of the parties have responded to each other is too terrible, exhausting. Meanwhile, the Russian side in this process has issued a demand that Ukraine commit not to join the anti-Russian blocs and recognize the two separatist regions in the Donbass region as well as abandon the demand that Russia return the Crimea peninsula. The final sub-item can see that the agenda of the second round of negotiations has taken a more humane step, revolving around key words such as “ceasefire agreement”, “halting demilitarization”, “opening of humanitarian corridors”...

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3. The third round of negotiations

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  Russia and Ukraine negotiated in the Brest, Belalus on March 7, 2022 with the purpose of solving political, military issues and humanitarian aid. However, the results were small - according to Podolyak - Ukrainian presidential adviser.

  The third round of negotiations took place in Brest, Belarus on March 7 after failed attempts to transfer Ukrainian citizens to humanitarian corridors. Russia was also criticized due to directing these corridors to itself and Belarus. Moscow's delegation was led by Russian presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, while Mikhailo Podolyak, president adviser, led Kiev's. The meeting was held for the purpose of addressing political, military issues and international humanitarian aid. Mikhailo Podolyak said on Twitter there were small positive subductions in improving the logistics of humanitarian corridors.

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4. The fourth round of negotiations

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  Russia and Ukraine negotiated via video connection on March 14, 2022, with the purpose of achieving a ceasefire, army withdrawals, and security guarantees for Ukraine. Ukraine’s presidential adviser Podolyak said that there was room for compromise, and the Kremlin Peskov spokesman said that continuing to negotiate was positive.

  After the two previous rounds of negotiations, the fourth negotiations between Russia and Ukraine was held on March 14. Representatives of two nations had a meeting via video connection with the Ukrainian side asking for a ceasefire, army withdrawals, and security guarantees. Russia has yet to take control of any of Ukraine's ten largest cities, but authorities in Kiev have expressed that the war could conclude sooner. After the talks, Podolyak said on Twitter that there was certainly room for compromise, while the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said it was too early to predict progress in the talks. However, he supposed the fact that the talks were continuing may be positive.

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5. The fifth round of negotiations

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  Russia and Ukraine negotiated in Istanbul, Turkey on March 29, 2022, led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Ukraine proposed to be neutral, while Russia declared a reduction in activities near Kiev. However, the US and the West said that they would judge Russia's actions instead of words.

  The latest round of negotiations was hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on March 29 when a special military operation was launched in Ukraine for nearly five weeks. As Moscow announced that it would "dramatically reduce" military activity near Kiev. The Ukrainian delegation presented their Russian counterparts with a peace proposal, exchanging military neutrality for security guarantees. Ukraine committed to give up its NATO membership effort in return for a security system guaranteed by the US, Turkey, and others. This was considered as a rare positive moment, but the U.S and other Western nations said they would judge Russia by its actions and not its words.

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6. The current situation of negotiations

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  Ukraine’s President Zelensky said that negotiations reached deadlock due to Russian military attacks, while Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov considered the Ukraine’s inconsistency as the reason. Also, that supporting parties lacked the consistency in stance was a cause. Writes Ton Sinh Thanh for The World & Vietnam report.

  Russia and Ukraine continue to blame each other for the deadlock in negotiations in the complicated situation. On April 29, Ukraine’s President Zelensky said that military attacks from Russia made "the risk of closing negotiations is very high", while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the negotiations were delayed by the lack of Ukraine's consistency. Besides, the lack of consistency in the stance of the parties supporting Russia and Ukraine also disrupted the negotiations.

  Russia and Ukraine have experienced four direct negotiations and one online negotiation in Belarus and Turkey until now. With the close cooperation with Russia, Belarus was considered to be beneficial to Russia for previous and later rounds of negotiations. In addition, despite being a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Turkey did not impose sanctions on Russia, expressing its neutral efforts in the Russian - Ukraine relationship. The content of the negotiations revolved around the security issue and the humanitarian corridor, but the results achieved a part of the goals given, even though the representatives of the two nations agreed on the next round. The negotiations between Russia and Ukraine depended on the situation on the battlefield, and the security guarantee for Ukraine from the West also made a significant change in negotiations.