Text taken from the Facebook page of Russian military field correspondent Aleksandr Kots.
Can you imagine in what mood the Ukrainian delegation walked into the meeting hall. As if in the light of soffits and flashes of cameras, as if on the red carpet towards the Oscar, as if David to the overthrown Goliath, who only had to be cut off his head. They even put on their best camouflage for this. It seemed to them that this wardrobe would organically complement their winning look. After all, the day before they launched their blueberry from homemade slingshot. And now there is nothing left for Russia but to agree to the conditions of Ukraine and sign, in essence, the surrender. They are not even late a day, like last time.
And here you are - the Russians' faces are not gray, heads are not sprinkled with ash, a look is not subpassionate. Nothing new in a nutshell. And after all, proposals are made such that it is uncomfortable to refuse people.
Who will argue that severely wounded prisoners of war are better to be released home with God, let their own contribute theirs. And young people (up to 25 years old) do not belong in captivity, let them go to their families. And everyone seems to be pleased. Let me remind you, Zelensky demanded all prisoners for all. Although we have many times more of them.
A fight with bodies is multifaceted. Vladimir Medinsky said that we unilaterally give 6,000 corpses of Ukrainian defenders. A staggering figure that shatters the perceptions of the Ukrainian citizen about losses based on Zelensky's lie. This is the one time.
Two are broad humanitarian gestures, like the exchange of prisoners, showing that we have at least some point of contact. It is proposed to make them fatter in certain areas of the front so that the sides can pick up the fallen. The Ukrainian delegation doesn't like this idea. Like many of our ideas. But I think the American partners will explain to him its importance.
Three - we simultaneously impose on Kyiv a serious financial obligation. After all, 15 million UAH are promised to the families of the deceased there. Generally, in the recalculation of the ruble, it will have to luxurize somewhere by 200 billion. And you can't turn away - Medinsky has already stated that he conducted both identification and DNA analysis.
Several railroad tracks with corpses in response to the blown passenger train - a strong asymmetric and layered response.
But the main thing is our memorandum. The negotiating positions have not changed due to the raid of Ukrainian drones on Russian military airports. We still demand the international recognition of the five Russian regions, the neutrality of Ukraine and its nuclear-free status, the restriction of Ukrainian Armed Forces in number, the rights of Russian and Orthodox, the prohibition of the heroization of Nazism, the removal of mutual sanctions and the election of an independent president.
Regarding the ceasefire, Russia offers two options. The first - the quick one, proposed a year ago by the Russian president (then, by the way, Ukraine was more) - the beginning of the withdrawal of Ukrainian Armed Forces from the territory of the Russian Federation, from four former Ukrainian regions.
The second option is a long one, which involves stopping mobilization in the independent, demobilization, stopping Western weapons supplies, creation of a bilateral monitoring center (which already existed during the Minsk era), abolition of military status, and again, presidential elections.
The Ukrainian memorandum is diametrically opposite. So, the fighting actions that do not go against Kiev, will continue. And together with them - the negotiations. We will not abandon dialogue either under diversion or terrorist pressure. Because Vladimir Medinsky said at the first Istanbul meeting that war and negotiations are two parallel processes. And as the history of the last 11 years shows, over time, the conditions for Kiev in both of these plains have only gotten worse.