According to leaked documents, Russia’s first peace offer in 2022 consisted of Ukraine surrendering

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s (RFE/RL) investigative project Sistema reported on November 4 that it had obtained the first draft of Moscow’s peace proposal to Kiev, just days after the start of Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine.

Moscow and Kiev held unsuccessful talks with Belarus and Türkiye in the first months of the full-scale war, and there have been no direct negotiations since.

six page documentThe document, consisting of four-page annexes published by Sistema and dated March 7, 2022, was delivered to the Ukrainian side by the Russian delegation during the third round of talks held in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Belarus.

Sistema obtained a draft from an unnamed Ukrainian source familiar with the talks and a Russian source who confirmed its authenticity.

The one-sided terms of the document apparently meant Kiev’s surrender, the article said.

The New York Times (NYT) published the following in June: Exactly 17 pages of so-called draft Draft dated April 15, 2022. Although it shares similarities with the first draft, such as the removal of all sanctions against Moscow, Russia has softened its stance on other demands.

In the first document, dated March 7, Moscow demanded that Ukraine reduce its army to 50,000 people, five times less than the country has by 2022, as well as reduce the number of ships, helicopters and tanks.

Russia planned to ban Ukraine from developing “other types of weapons as a result of scientific research.” According to the draft, Moscow demanded that “any type of missile weapon with a range of more than 250 km” not be produced, acquired or deployed in Ukraine.

Ukraine was also reportedly required to confirm the independence of the country’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, which were then partially occupied by Russia, and to rebuild the infrastructure of the regions destroyed since Russia’s invasion.

Russia has demanded, among other things, the de facto legalization of Soviet and communist symbols in Ukraine.

Russian President Putin has said that Ukrainian troops must enlist as a condition for peace negotiations in June 2024. To leave Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts of the country. He added that Ukraine should recognize Russia’s annexation of regions and abandon its desire to join NATO. Kyiv rejected this request.

Ukraine says peace talks should be held on 10-step basis peace formulaThis includes the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.

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