Russia says putting peace terms up for vote in Ukraine will harm negotiations

Moscow, March 22 (IAS) Russia has said that Kievs idea to put peace deal terms up for a referendum will only hurt the ongoing talks.

Moscow launched a military campaign against Ukraine late last month.

"We're convinced that putting [the terms] before the public at this moment can only undermine the negotiations that are already going a lot slower and are less substantial than we want them to be," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, RT reported.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky had suggested earlier that peace terms of "historical" importance may be the subject of a referendum.

"The people will have to respond to certain compromises," he told reporters on Monday, adding that the details were still dependent on talks with Moscow.

Russia and Ukraine held several rounds of talks in Belarus, later switching to discussions via video link.

Zelensky reiterated that Kiev is seeking security guarantees from Russia and the West. Moscow, meanwhile, said that it wants Ukraine to officially become a neutral country, renouncing its bid to join NATO, a US-led military bloc that Russia views as a threat.

Moscow further said it wants the "demilitarisation" and "denazification" of Ukraine, as well as for Kiev to recognise Crimea as a part of Russia, and the republics in Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states.

Source: IANS