War

One thousand four hundred thirty-fifth day. First a peace agreement, then security guarantees for Ukraine. This is the US position in negotiations to end the war

Since February 24, 2022, Meduza has been broadcasting live about the Russian-Ukrainian war. We publish your letters every day because we are sure that we need to continue talking about the war. Share with us your thoughts about the war. What feelings are you experiencing? How does war affect your life and your attitude towards the world? If you have a story related to the war, tell it . The feedback form is at the end of this article. A review of the previous day can be read here .

World

Achieving peace agreements with Russia is a necessary condition for Ukraine to receive security guarantees from the United States, writes Reuters, citing a source familiar with the progress of the negotiations.

The day before, the Financial Times wrote that the Donald Trump administration is demanding that Ukraine cede Donbass to Russia, linking this particular concession to security guarantees. Ukrainian and European officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the US position an attempt to put pressure on Kyiv.

A Reuters source, however, gives a different version: the United States does not interfere in any way with the content of peace agreements between the warring parties and does not tell Ukraine what should be in them. The assertion that Washington is trying to force Kyiv to make territorial concessions, he says, is misleading.

The White House also rejected the allegations mentioned in the Financial Times article, calling it “an absolute lie” that security guarantees are linked to the surrender of Donbass.

The President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky said the day before yesterday that the document on security guarantees is “100% ready,” and Kiev is only waiting for the date and place of its signing from the United States. It is assumed that the signed document will subsequently be ratified by the US Congress and the Verkhovna Rada. The contents of the document have not yet been disclosed.

Negotiations between the US, Russia and Ukraine will continue on February 1 in Abu Dhabi. Their first round, which took place last week, was characterized positively by all sides. A source from Axios reported that the Russian Federation and Ukraine are “very close to a meeting between Putin and Zelensky.”

Assistant to the President of Russia Yuri Ushakov said today that the Russian Federation has never refused a meeting of presidents if it is well prepared, and is ready for it now - if Zelensky comes to Moscow. “At the same time, we are guaranteed to ensure his safety and the necessary conditions for work,” said the aide to the President of the Russian Federation.

The territorial issue remains key. Moscow continues to publicly insist that Ukrainian troops leave the entire territory of the Donetsk region. However, the future status of the region remains a subject of negotiations. Among the previously reported compromise options being considered is declaring the territory abandoned by the Ukrainian military a demilitarized zone with a special economic status.

War in photographs. Consequences of a missile attack on Zaporozhye

War through the eyes of Meduza readers

How we choose letters

Meduza's readers live in different countries and have different attitudes towards the war. We publish your letters to see this event through your eyes. Our editors try to present all points of view, even if they do not coincide with the editorial position. However, in accordance with the Meduza code, we do not publish messages that contain “hate speech,” justify the murder of civilians, or express direct support for an aggressive war.

Olga . My war began in 2014. Then I and my one and a half year old son were leaving occupied Lugansk. We lived in the occupation for two days, threw our things into the trunk - children's toys, medicine - and left for the unoccupied part of eastern Ukraine. My hometown has been captured for several weeks by Girkin’s gang and local, mostly marginal, “militias.” I saw these people, I even knew some of them. I remember “referendums” and protests. This is how my Lugansk remains in the past.

I had to start all over again. Jobs appeared, housing was purchased, life and business were established. Rumors that there would be a war began to appear in the spring of 2021. It was hard to believe. Only when the LDPR was recognized in February 2022 did I pack my bags again. One large and one small, for children's things. The son was already nine […].

I won’t write about how we drove at night through Chuguev, Kharkov, Poltava. I don't remember well. We went to Kyiv. There was a lot more to come. A lot of fear, pain and anger. Anger came immediately after shock. Hatred. To everything connected with Putin, to the Russians. This is probably what helped in the first days and weeks of a full-scale war. When there is no connection with loved ones, populated areas are erased from maps, when you go to bed dressed, and the child has notes with relatives’ phone numbers in all his pockets.

Fortunately, you can't hate for long. Anger is a good mechanism, but it is destructive in the long term. It seemed to me that there was nothing human left in me anymore. Then they killed Navalny. That was the first time I felt any other feelings for a person with a Russian passport. It wasn't pity, no. Pain.

Nadezhda Buyanova . When I saw her photo in a simple old apartment, my heart sank. Small and defenseless. Looks like my grandmother. Powerless against the infernal machine. She deserved neither punishment nor my hatred. Talk about her too. Write.

I can't hate anymore and I don't want to. If you did not come to my land with weapons and do not justify these crimes, you do not deserve sanctions, punishments and my hatred, you are not my enemy. I will not give my human face to this war - and you don’t either.

Share your thoughts about the war

"Jellyfish"