Ukraine and Russia made significant progress on a tentative 15-point peace deal, which includes President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's country renouncing NATO membership ambitions, Financial Times reported Wednesday.
The proposed deal also would set a limit on Ukrainian armed forces in return for security guarantees, Financial Times said, citing three people involved in the talks.
However, the deal also would include Ukraine promising not to host foreign military bases or weaponry in exchange for protection from allies such as the United States, United Kingdom and Turkey, FT said.
A 1994 agreement underpinning Ukrainian security failed to prevent Russia from taking control of Crimea in 2014.
FT reported that Ukrainian officials remained skeptical that Russian President Vladimir Putin was committed fully to peace, and they were concerned that Moscow could be buying time to regroup its forces and resume its offensive.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Zelenskyy, told FT that any deal would involve "the troops of the Russian Federation in any case leaving the territory of Ukraine" captured since the invasion began on Feb. 24.
The biggest sticking point, FT said, remained Russia's demand that Ukraine recognize its annexation of Crimea and the independence of two separatist areas in the eastern Donbas border region.
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