New York Times reveals details of failed Ukrainian-Russian peace talk

The war in Ukraine has been ongoing for over two years. The American daily emphasizes that the negotiation sessions held just after the outbreak of the war "were the only case where Ukrainian and Russian officials held direct peace talks". "NYT" writes that "the talks ended in failure as both sides entrenched themselves on the battlefield."

Vladimir Putin "offered" a peace proposal to Ukraine on Friday. It involved relinquishing a significant portion of the territory. "Ukrainian troops must withdraw from the entire territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, as well as the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions – then Russia will be ready to negotiate," Vladimir Putin said during a Friday meeting with the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Currently, Ukraine demands the withdrawal of all Russian forces from its territory. Zelensky wants the borders to return to those established in 1991.

"The Times" publishes the obtained documents in full. These are treaty drafts from March 17 and April 15, 2022, presenting competing proposals from both sides and points of agreement; and a private "communique" from personal talks in Istanbul on March 29, which summarized the proposed agreement. The main points of the project:

                
• The Kremlin initially wanted Ukraine to recognize Crimea as a part of Russia. "Ukraine recognizes the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol as an integral part (subjects) of the Russian Federation and will make comprehensive changes to national legislation in this regard." By April 15, both sides agreed to exclude Crimea from their treaty, leaving it under Russian occupation but not recognized by Ukraine.
• Ukraine proposed never to join NATO or other alliances. "Ukraine will not join any military alliances, will not host foreign bases and military contingents…". Ukrainian negotiators proposed renouncing NATO membership and accepting Russian occupation of parts of their territory. However, they refused to recognize Russia's sovereignty over them.
• Russia demanded that Ukraine make Russian the official language. "Ukraine will remove all restrictions on the use of the Russian language in any area within 30 days from the signing of this Treaty in accordance with Annex No. 2."
• Ukraine wanted its allies to be bound by a treaty to intervene if it is attacked again. "For instance, by closing the airspace over Ukraine, providing necessary weapons, using armed forces to restore and then maintain the security of Ukraine as a permanently neutral state."
• Russia wanted Ukraine and all other signatories of the treaties to lift the sanctions imposed on Moscow since 2014 and publicly call on other countries to do the same. "Ukraine annuls and will henceforth not impose, and also publicly calls on all states and international organizations to annul and henceforth not impose any sanctions and restrictive measures imposed since 2014 on the Russian Federation."
• Ukraine was to give up its entire eastern Donbas and recognize Crimea as a part of Russia. A seven-point list concerned Ukraine's national identity and included a ban on naming places after Ukrainian independence fighters. "Ukraine recognizes the independence of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic within the administrative borders of the former Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine and will make comprehensive changes to national legislation in this regard."
• Russia withdrew its previous objections to Ukraine's full membership in the EU. "The parties to this Treaty agree that Ukraine's status as a permanently neutral state is consistent with, subject to the provisions of this Treaty, possible membership in the European Union."
• Russia's ceasefire proposal stated that Ukraine would have to withdraw its troops to its territory. "Ukraine will withdraw (return) units of its armed forces, other armed formations, weapons, and military equipment to their permanent locations or locations agreed upon with the Russian Federation."
• For Ukrainians, binding security guarantees were the basis of a potential peace agreement, signed by many countries. For example, the United Kingdom, China, Russia, the United States, France, Turkey, Germany, Canada, Italy, Poland, Israel. "The Guarantor States and Ukraine agree that in the event of aggression, any armed attack on Ukraine, or any military operation against Ukraine, each of the Guarantor States, after urgent and immediate consultations between them… will provide… assistance to Ukraine as a permanently neutral state under attack."

On March 29, representatives from Russia and Ukraine met in a palace on the Bosphorus in Istanbul. Some viewed these talks as a breakthrough resulting from Russia's struggles on the battlefield. One member of the Ukrainian negotiating team stated that after every military failure, Putin "limited his demands."

In Istanbul, the Russians seemed to support the Ukrainian model of neutrality and security guarantees, placing less emphasis on their territorial demands. Ukraine summarized the proposed agreement in a two-page document called the Istanbul Communique, which it never published.

However, as "The Times" reports, Russian officials publicly sent mixed signals about whether the Kremlin was ready to sign the agreement.

Then, there was a departure from what Ukrainian negotiators said was discussed in Istanbul. "Russia included a clause stating that all the guarantor states, including Russia, must approve the response in case of an attack on Ukraine. In effect, Moscow could invade Ukraine again and then veto any military intervention on its behalf – which was seemingly an absurd condition that Kyiv quickly saw as breaking the agreement," the American Daily describes.

Due to this change, a member of the Ukrainian negotiating team stated, "We are not interested in continuing the talks."