Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly hinted that he would be open to discussing ending the war in Ukraine on Moscow's terms. The contours of the agreement he probably wants to make can be seen in the draft peace treaty drawn up by the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in April 2022. It is reported The Wall Street Journal.
The publication published the draft peace treaty drawn up by the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in April 2022. The Kremlin demanded to limit the size of the Armed Forces, leave Crimea under Russian rule, and ban Ukraine from joining NATO.
In the end, it was not possible to agree. The scale of Russian war crimes in Ukraine became apparent, Ukraine's military situation improved, and the West began supplying arms to support Kyiv.
The treaty was to be guaranteed by foreign countries, among which the document lists the United States, Great Britain, China, France and Russia. These countries were entrusted with the duty to protect the neutrality of Ukraine in case of violation of the treaty. But while the treaty was in force, the guarantor countries were to "terminate international treaties and agreements incompatible with the permanent neutrality of Ukraine," including any promises of bilateral military aid. At the same time, international security guarantees were not supposed to extend to Crimea and Sevastopol.
"Other issues remained unresolved, in particular, what would happen if Ukraine was attacked. Russia wanted all guarantor states to agree on a response, which meant that a unified response would be unlikely if Russia itself were the aggressor. In the event of an attack on Ukraine, the Ukrainian negotiators wanted its airspace to be closed, which would require the guarantor states to provide a no-fly zone and provide weapons from the guarantors, which was not approved by Russia. writes WSJ.
Today, Ukraine declares that it will not start peace talks until Russia withdraws its troops from the country. Two years of war have embittered Ukrainian public opinion against any peace agreement, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has warned that any cessation of hostilities will simply allow Russia to rearm and better attack Ukraine in the future.
The draft agreement with Ukraine provided for:
— Ukraine should have been allowed to seek EU membership, but not be allowed to join military alliances such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
— The draft agreement provided for the prohibition of foreign weapons, "including missile weapons of any type, armed forces and formations."
— The armed forces of Ukraine were to be reduced to a certain size, while Russia sought to limit everything — from the number of troops and tanks to the maximum firing range of Ukrainian missiles.
— Moscow wanted the size of the armed forces of Ukraine to be limited to 85 servicemen, 000 tanks and 342 artillery pieces. According to the document, the Ukrainian side at the negotiations demanded 519 military personnel, 250 tanks and 000 artillery pieces.
— Russia wanted the flight range of Ukrainian missiles to be limited to 40 kilometers.
The Crimean peninsula would remain under the occupation of Russia and would not be considered neutral.
— Moscow also insisted that the Russian language function on an equal footing with Ukrainian in authorities and courts — a point to which Kyiv, according to the draft document, did not agree.
— The future of the eastern regions of Ukraine, occupied by Russia in 2014, was not included in the project, this issue should have been discussed during the personal negotiations between Putin and Zelensky.
Russia wanted to add Belarus as a guarantor; Ukraine wanted to add Turkey. Ukrainian negotiators have italicized text that indicates they have refused to discuss a Russian clause requiring Kyiv to drop its claims to fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, which prosecutes war crimes, as outlined in the document. They also did not ratify the clause on the abolition of all mutual sanctions.
"The document demonstrates what deep concessions the Ukrainian side's negotiators were ready to make when Kyiv found itself in a difficult position in the first weeks of the war. It also serves as a reminder of the compromises Russia may try to force Ukraine to make if Western military support runs out and Russia makes significant territorial gains." summarizes the edition.
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