Shots fired near a Russian munitions depot in the breakaway Moldova region of Transnistria…

6:55 am: Putin still hopes for a “positive outcome” in the negotiations

Antonio Guterres met Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Tuesday. On this occasion, the Russian President informed the head of the United Nations that he still believes in a positive outcome of negotiations with Ukraine. Despite the fighting, “Negotiations are continuing (…) I hope that we will reach a positive result,” the Kremlin master stated.

He also stressed that the negotiations between Moscow and Kiev in Istanbul, at the end of March, made it possible “to make serious progress because our Ukrainian colleagues did not connect the security requirements, the international security of Ukraine, with some understanding of internationally recognized borders.” Ukraine”.

During these negotiations, Kyiv proposed an international agreement that would create states that would guarantee their security. In return, Ukraine will accept a “non-nuclear” and neutral status, renounce joining NATO, license foreign military bases on its territory and exclude for some time from negotiations issues related to the annexation of Crimea and the breakaway territories. Donbass. After these negotiations, Moscow withdrew its forces to northern Ukraine.