Russia Sparks Ceasefire Hope After Kremlin Says Neutral Ukraine With Army Could Be "Compromise"

"Kremlin cited a potential opening toward peace in the ongoing ceasefire negotiations,

following President Zelensky's insistence repeated Tuesday that "Ukraine must recognize it will not join NATO." 

Apparently seizing upon this as a key point of compromise - which has from the start been foremost among Russia's central security demands to NATO, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday this proposal for Ukraine to become a neutral country "could be viewed as a certain kind of compromise," as quoted in Bloomberg.

Bloomberg noted that "Peskov declined to provide details beyond confirming that the idea of Swedish or Austrian-style neutrality is under discussion in the talks now underway with Ukraine."

Despite this clear "opening" at the negotiations table based on neutrality, the fact that Zelensky has been pushing a no-fly zone hard in front of an international audience - and on Tuesday doing so in a virtual speech to Canadian parliament - could greatly complicated things with Moscow in terms of finding a possible diplomatic off-ramp." ZH