Ukraine has presented Russia with a ten-point plan for peace that essentially amounts to Ukraine becoming a neutral state, whose security is guaranteed by treaty by a consortium of states. Ukraine does not want to make concessions on the status and size of the separatist areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, but can be negotiated for 15 years.
Russian negotiators received Ukrainian demands during talks in Istanbul. After the meeting, both delegations were cautiously optimistic. Russia said it would drastically reduce the shelling of Kiev, in order to “increase mutual trust”.
As stocks bounced, Western leaders warned that no indications of a serious will for peace or a ceasefire had been seen on the battlefield. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned it could very well be a diversion, President Biden said he wanted to see facts on the ground first. Russia had previously announced that it would focus on the Donbas. Ukraine reported that Russian troops were indeed being taken from the north to be deployed in the south.
Humanitarian Corridor
French President Macron pleaded with President Putin on Tuesday for a humanitarian corridor along which civilians could be evacuated from Mariupol, which had been besieged for days. Putin said, according to the Elysée, that he would think about it. In the course of Tuesday afternoon, Kiev reported that at least 12 people were killed in an attack on a regional administrative center in the port of Mykolaiv.
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During a telephone conversation, five Western government leaders agreed that Western sanctions would remain in full force and promised to continue to operate as one front.
The ten-point plan was released on Tuesday evening via the Russian-language news service Medusa. The proposals correspond to a summary of demands that Russia shared with journalists. The Ukrainian vision for the future focuses on a neutral Ukraine that will therefore not seek affiliation with NATO, will not allow foreign military personnel to enter its territory and will not develop nuclear weapons.
The security of a neutral Ukraine is guaranteed by a number of countries, including Russia, the United Kingdom, China, the United States, France, Turkey, Germany, Canada, Italy, Poland and Israel. A number of Western countries have already promised to act as a guarantee force. If Ukraine is attacked, the powers must come to the rescue within three days. Ukraine has the right to self-defense under the UN Convention. The European countries must commit themselves to bring Ukraine into the European Union.
The guarantee would not apply to Crimea, Sevastopol and part of the Donbas. Ukraine wants to submit a possible agreement in a referendum and in the end a final agreement can only be signed at a meeting between presidents Zelensky and Putin.
A version of this article also appeared in NRC on the morning of March 30, 2022