In the Verkhovna Rada, they acknowledged that Russia, in talks with Ukraine, raises the issues of the Russian language and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC)

Russia is demanding, in the negotiations, protection in Ukraine for the Russian language and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

This was said by Roman Kostenko, a member of the Holos faction and secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence.

According to him, there has been no progress in the talks because Russia currently has the stronger position.

“When Russia puts forward its arguments and we don’t have strong counterarguments, the negotiations become fruitless. Russia demands that we hand over territories—we don’t. Russia demands that we hand over territories—we don’t do it. They impose their language, their church—for them this is a matter of principle. And so we are trying to negotiate with them on the Russian Federation’s terms. The question is simply: why should Russia back down from its demands? They have every opportunity to make demands of us,” the MP said.

The Ukrainian delegation has not officially confirmed the demands described by Kostenko. However, Sergey Lavrov has said that these issues are being raised in the negotiations.

Western media also reported in the autumn that a U.S. peace plan for Ukraine included granting the Russian language official status and restoring the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Recall that recently Kostenko spoke out against negotiations and in favor of continuing the war, saying: “If we hold out until spring, the situation will change.” According to him, this is needed in order to move into a stronger negotiating position.