Journalists learned that in March 2022, the Russian side proposed to Ukraine the "Agreement on settlement of the situation in Ukraine and neutrality of Ukraine", which resembles a demand for surrender.
Points of attention
- Russia proposed a “Treaty on the settlement of the situation in Ukraine and the neutrality of Ukraine” to Ukraine in March 2022, which was essentially a demand for surrender disguised as a peace agreement.
- The proposal included reducing Ukraine's defense capabilities, giving up missile weapons, recognizing independence of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, legalizing the Russian language, and more.
- If Ukraine had accepted the conditions, it would have turned into a puppet entity with a small army, no protection from NATO, and would have to recognize the independence of certain regions.
- The 'peace agreement' also demanded the lifting of sanctions, withdrawal of lawsuits, and restoration of property rights of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
- Putin's claims about Ukraine's peace initiatives through Turkey were refuted, highlighting Russia's deceptive tactics in the conflict.
Russia offered Ukraine to surrender in March 2022 under the guise of a "peace agreement"
This was reported by the Sistema project, which is the investigative unit of Radio Liberty.
Sistema received the project from a Ukrainian source familiar with the negotiations, and a Russian source close to the negotiations confirmed its authenticity. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The draft, titled "Treaty on the settlement of the situation in Ukraine and the neutrality of Ukraine," was dated March 7, 2022, 11 days after Russia launched the invasion and a week after the start of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
According to the journalists, the relevant document was handed over to the Ukrainian delegation on March 7, 2022, during the third round of negotiations in the Bialowieza Forest in Belarus.
According to the newspaper, this is the first known document that outlines Russia's terms for a peace agreement after the start of a full-scale invasion.
If the Ukrainian authorities agreed to these conditions, it would turn Ukraine into a puppet entity, with a fictitious neutral status, with a tiny, toothless army, without protection from NATO countries and without a chance to regain control over Crimea or Donbass, and would have to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk the region as a whole, as well as large territories that at that time were not yet under the control of Kyiv, — the journalists note.
The document contains six pages of the main agreement and four pages of annexes. The 18 articles cover various areas: the parameters of Ukraine's neutrality (military and international obligations), border issues, humanitarian issues (language, religion, history), as well as the lifting of sanctions from Russia.
What did the Russian Federation offer in the "peace agreement" with Ukraine
The project included a number of points aimed at reducing the combat effectiveness of the Defense Forces of Ukraine, the return of Russian as the second state language and symbols of totalitarianism.
Ukraine had to reduce its army to 50,000 people, including 1,500 officers (this is five times less than Ukraine had by 2022). If this wish were fulfilled, Ukraine would have only four ships, 55 helicopters and 300 tanks left.
In addition, Ukraine was offered "not to develop, not to produce, not to buy and not to place on its territory missile weapons of any type of basing with a firing range of more than 250 km."
This is the distance, for example, that separates the Crimean Bridge from the Ukrainian-controlled Gulyaipol, located near the front line. Russia reserved the right to ban Ukraine from "any other types of weapons that may be developed as a result of scientific research" in the future.
Also, according to the treaty, Ukraine had to recognize the independence of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk republics within the administrative regions of Ukraine (as of February 24, 2022, Russia controlled only part of these regions and did not conquer them completely even now, at the end of 2024).
Russia also demanded the lifting of all sanctions — both Ukrainian and international — and the withdrawal of all international lawsuits filed since 2014.
At the same time, Russia insisted on giving the Russian language state status and restoring all property rights of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).
The authors of the project demanded "to cancel and no longer introduce any prohibitions of symbols associated in the states with the victory over Nazism", that is, in fact, to re-legalize Soviet and communist symbols in Ukraine. The document includes a list of Ukrainian laws, which the authors called examples of "Nazification and heroization of Nazism.
Putin is lying about Ukraine's peace initiatives
On October 24, the illegitimate president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, said that Ukraine allegedly offered the Russian Federation through Turkey to hold negotiations on peace initiatives
He stated this at the BRICS summit.
Putin says that the representative of Turkey at the September session of the UN General Assembly in New York "received some proposal for Russia from Ukraine."
Turkey also took the initiative regarding the situation in the Black Sea: to ensure safe shipping, to conclude certain agreements and agreements regarding the safety of nuclear power facilities, said the Russian dictator.
