MOSCOW, July 27. /TASS/. Russia rules out freezing the Ukraine conflict; Tehran and Washington suddenly halt exchanges of strikes; and support for Ukraine gradually declines in EU countries. These stories topped Monday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.
Vedomosti: Russia rules out freezing Ukraine conflict
Kiev’s position makes freezing the Ukraine conflict impossible, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, commenting on a proposal put forward by Kazakhstan's president during a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, where Kassym-Jomart Tokayev suggested a freeze in the fighting based on the Istanbul agreements, Vedomosti writes.
Referring to an "Istanbul formula 2.0," Tokayev seemed to be alluding to a framework based on the agreements drafted during Russia-Ukraine talks in Turkey in the spring of 2022. Under those proposals, Russia sought Ukraine's neutrality, its abandonment of plans to join NATO, recognition of Russian as an official language, and an end to persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In return, Ukraine was supposed to receive security guarantees, particularly from the permanent members of the UN Security Council (the United States, China, Britain and France), while Moscow would not oppose Kiev's bid for membership in the European Union.
