Representatives from Russia and Ukraine held face-to-face talks in Turkey on Tuesday after a break of more than two weeks. Ukraine brought to the table a conditional motion on neutrality.
– Can you imagine a situation where someone would walk up to you with guns, threaten and tell you how to live? What would you do?
This is what a 38-year-old English teacher living in Kharkov says Alina Jarovajawhen asked what kind of peace terms Ukraine could agree to.
– We had a perfect life before the Russian invasion. There were opportunities and jobs. We did not need any salvation, Jarovaya says.
Negotiations between Ukraine and Russia continued on Tuesday in Turkey. asked Jarovaya and two other Ukrainians what kind of peace they could agree to.
Ukraine, which is seeking a ceasefire, refuses to negotiate the disarmament demanded by Russia or the so-called “removal of the Nazis” from the country’s administration.
Ukraine brought a proposal on neutrality to the negotiating table, but not without conditions. Ukraine demands security guarantees – if not from the military alliance NATO, then from other states.
“Would they guarantee we’re safe?”
Alina Jarovaya from Kharkov does not believe that the Ukrainians will lay down their arms before Russian troops withdraw from the occupied territories after February. He believes that Ukrainian forces will be able to continue the fight, even forever, if only the West continues to provide military support to Ukraine.
According to Jarovaya, the fate of the separatist regions of eastern Ukraine other than as part of Ukraine would not please the people either.
– No one asked the people of Luhansk what they wanted.
According to Jarovaya, Ukraine is not obliged to join the military alliance as a member of NATO. The big question, he said, is whether European countries, for example, would be willing to offer Ukraine security guarantees because there is no trust in the Russian state.
– Would they guarantee we could be safe in our home? I am not so sure.
Jarovaya would like to see the future of Ukaina as an integral part of Europe.
– I remember my childhood in the 1990s after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Life was tough: no one got enough to eat and no one had a job.
Jarovaya believes that peace talks can bring results quickly. In the meantime, life goes on, he says.
– I try to stick to normal life. I cook, I clean, I read the news.
Jarovaya has decided to stay with his wife in Kharkov, although schools have been stuck since the beginning of the Russian invasion. He says he could consider moving elsewhere in Ukraine if the situation worsens too much. Russian troops have sought to besiege the city.
Jarovaya’s parents were from Luhansk, where he still has relatives. Through these accounts, Jarovaya has formed his own conception of living in the occupied territory.
– No one there cares about people’s needs, life, development or anything else. Their history stopped like a wall. Who would want to live like that? No one.
“I first thought it was Putin’s war.”
The withdrawal of Russian troops, including in eastern Ukraine, the cessation of the invasion and the return of Crimea to Ukraine. Kiev journalist Nataly Lutsenko, 32, believes that Ukraine can be satisfied with the outcome of the peace talks only if these requirements are met.
– So many people are fighting this war that I don’t think anyone wants compromises on the 1991 limits, Lutsenko says.
Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
According to Lutsenko, Ukraine should not change its position on the Russian-occupied Donbass. The reporter believes that in the long run, Russia would not be satisfied with regional transfers to Eastern Ukraine, for example.
Lutsenko says his attitude to the military alliance NATO has changed.
– On the one hand, we would need membership. On the other hand, I do not know whether NATO would come to the rescue if Russia even attacked Poland, Lutsenko says.
Lutsenko has also changed his thinking about Russia. He says he thought in the early days of the war that it was precisely the President of Russia who was involved Vladimir Putin war. Since then, he has begun to see the Russian propaganda machinery as a major problem within Russia.
Like Kharkov, Russian forces have sought to besiege the capital, Kiev.
Lutsenko has wanted to stay in the city and continue his work as a journalist, even though he says he feared occupation during the first days of the war.
– Looking at history, the occupations have been dangerous especially for women.
Since then, Lutsenko has begun to think that the occupation of the big city of Kiev would be very challenging. Now, according to Lutsenko, the most acute fear is that Russia would strike with chemical weapons. If that were to happen, Lutsenko would reconsider staying in Kiev.
Lutsenko would like to see post-war Ukraine as an economically advanced IT expert.
– I hope for a lot of donations for reconstruction. I also hope that people will visit Ukraine and see what kind of country it is.
“What kind of negotiations can there be with a terrorist state?”
Living in Kharkov Galyna Smagina, 51, used to transport people between Germany and Ukraine through its travel agency focusing on health tourism. Since the conquest of Crimea, Smagina has been transporting food, hygiene items and medicines to the Ukrainian army.
Since Russia’s expanded attack in February, Smagina has also transported necessities to civilians living in Kharkov and helped people on evacuation trains.
Spouse of Smagina Defendant fighting in the Ukrainian forces. Smagina sees no reason to compromise as required by Russia.
– Why would we fight and expose so many to death, hardship and destruction if the end result was the surrender of Crimea and Donbas or the disarmament of Ukraine, Smagina asks.
– What kind of negotiations can take place with a terrorist state?
According to Smagina, attitudes towards Russia have changed mainly in Russian-speaking Kharkov. In 2014, Smagina could not wait for the conquest of Crimea or the war in eastern Ukraine.
Now Smagina’s circle of friends has changed the everyday language from Russia to Ukraine.
After the first days of the war, Smagina has no longer run into the shelters, even though there will be air alarms in “ten days.” That would be hard as he spends his days transporting supplies.
– People from Israel and Donetsk have told me that they will get used to the attacks in two weeks. That’s right, Smagina says.
In the future, Smagina would like to see Ukraine even closer to the EU.
– We don’t want Russia, so we go to Europe. I would also like Ukraine to be part of NATO.
You can discuss the topic until Thursday evening, March 31st. until 11 p.m.