The evolution of peace initiatives for Ukraine: from the Gomel negotiations to Trump’s 28-point plan

Photo: David Oliveira/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The United States, together with Russia, developed its own project to end the war in Ukraine. Like all previous projects in which Moscow is involved, it requires unilateral concessions from Kyiv: relinquishment of its own territories, reduction of the army and weapons, and many other fantastic ideas of the Russian dictator Putin. And while Ukraine, Europe and the USA are working on a new joint project, let’s recall what was already offered to Ukraine at the negotiations and what there were plans to achieve peace in our country.

Spring 2022. Russia disrupted negotiations in Belarus and Turkey The first meetings of the Ukrainian and Russian delegations began a few days after the start of the aggression in 2022. At meetings on February 28 in Gomel, Belarus, and then on March 3-7, 2022 in Brest, the Russians presented categorical demands for the recognition of the so-called “DPR”, “LPR” and the annexed Crimea under Russia, enshrined in the constitution, the “non-aligned” status of Ukraine and the appointment of Yuriy Boyk as the country’s prime minister. Volodymyr Putin avoided direct negotiations at the level of heads of state proposed by Volodymyr Zelensky. The only thing that was achieved at this meeting was that the format of interaction and the procedure for organizing humanitarian corridors were agreed upon.

The next meeting of the Ukrainian and Russian delegations took place on March 10 in Antalya (Turkey), where the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Russia Dmytro Kuleba and Serhiy Lavrov talked. Regular negotiations at the level of delegations started on March 29 in Istanbul. During the meeting, the Ukrainian side handed over to the Russian delegates a draft of the agreement (the so-called “Istanbul Communiqué”), in which, among other things, it was ready for the neutral status of a nuclear-free country under clear security guarantees, and proposed to resolve the issue of Crimea’s belonging through diplomacy within 10-15 years.

The draft agreement did not contain the requirement to withdraw troops to positions by February 24, 2022, which the Ukrainian delegates voiced earlier. And sensing Kyiv’s tendency to make concessions, the Kremlin demanded, above all else, to approve Russian as the second state language and reduce the armed forces. At the same time, the Russians did not stop seizing Ukrainian territories. And after Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian regions, President Zelenskyy implemented the decision of the National Security and Defense Council, which officially stated that negotiations with Putin were impossible.

Istanbul, Turkey, regularly becomes a venue for peace talks. Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Ukrainian “Peace Formula” In the fall of 2022, during the G20 summit in Indonesia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented the Ukrainian “Peace Formula” consisting of ten points. Issues of nuclear, radiation, environmental, food, energy security, return of prisoners and forcibly displaced persons, investigation of war crimes and restoration of justice – punishment of the guilty and compensation for damages – came into the center of attention.

Vladimir Putin resolutely rejected the Ukrainian “Peace Formula”, calling its clauses prohibitive requirements for the negotiation process.

Together with the leaders of the leading European countries, a “coalition of the determined” was created. Photo: Ludovika Marina/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

China, Africa, Brazil – “pseudo-planes of the pseudo-world” In February 2023, China also proposed its “peace project”, which would fully satisfy Russia. But this document did not contain specific measures and consisted of theses previously voiced by the Chinese authorities about commitment to international law, due to which certain commentators regarded it as a symbolic gesture addressed to the countries of the West. Key points: joint calls for a ceasefire, for the start of peace talks and a solution to the humanitarian crisis without any specifics. Brazil and other states of the Global South offered something similar.

Then there were proposals emanating from Russia, but allegedly disguised as international initiatives. In May 2023, six African states, each of which was financially and economically dependent on Russia to one degree or another, proposed their project. But it contained the same demands that Moscow had previously voiced.

2024 year. Putin’s new ultimatum In June 2024, on the eve of and to the detriment of the international peace conference on Ukraine in Switzerland, where representatives of 92 countries discussed achieving peace according to Zelensky’s “Peace Formula”, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin announced a new ultimatum, upon the fulfillment of which he is allegedly ready to start negotiations.

He demanded the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the regions of Ukraine annexed by Russia, including those that Russia did not occupy, but it seeks to do so. Prior to the recognition of Russian status for the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions, he demanded recognition of the same status for the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions of Ukraine. This was followed by demands for Ukraine’s rejection of plans to join NATO, the lifting of international sanctions against Russia, and the enshrining of all these demands in international agreements. It is absolutely clear that no one in Ukraine was going to follow the whims of the master of the Kremlin.

2025 year. Trump’s peacemaking began with failure In January 2025, even before his inauguration, Trump proposed his first “peace project” regarding Ukraine. He repeated it after he came to power. The project included freezing the front line and creating an 800-mile demilitarized zone (about 1,300 km). Incoming Vice President JD Vance has proposed freezing the conflict along current lines and forcing Ukraine into neutrality with no apparent security guarantees or restrictions on Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine’s reaction to this project was negative. In an interview with Le Parisien in December, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi emphasized that Ukraine does not want to surrender and freeze the war.

“No matter how many presidents or prime ministers would like to declare an end to the war, we are not going to simply give up and give up our independence. The danger was to say: “We will freeze the war and come to an agreement with the Russians,” said the President of Ukraine.

The USA negotiated with Russia behind Ukraine’s back In February 2025, in the capital of Saudi Arabia – Riyadh, Rev negotiations between Russia and the United States regarding the achievement of peace in Ukraine began. After them, for a long time, Donald Trump put pressure on Ukraine to fulfill Russia’s demands. Kyiv persisted in this duel, and in April the United States announced that it would withdraw from negotiations regarding Ukraine if Trump’s plans to resolve the military conflict within 100 days were ineffective. This term has passed, and there is no need to talk about any peace now.

In April of this year, Trump proposed a new project, which, with the exception of a few minor nuances, did not differ from the first. This project provided for the recognition of the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the exclusion of the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO, a ceasefire along the current front line, and the declaration of the territory around the Zaporizhzhya NPP as neutral under American control. And since this project once again required Ukraine to give up its territories, it also ended in failure.

Trump’s efforts to stop the war have not yielded results. Photo: Contributor/Getty Images

Russia ignored the EU peace plan At the end of October, the European Union proposed its project to settle the conflict in Ukraine. It consists of 12 points and provides for two key phases – the actual ceasefire and further negotiations to achieve peace. And his main demand is Russia’s agreement to stop the hot phase of the armed confrontation.

And after the ceasefire, this process will be monitored by the international community, led by the United States, using satellites, drones and other technological means. It is also assumed that during the first phase after the ceasefire, Ukraine and Russia will agree on a “non-aggression pact”, which will confirm Moscow’s desire to stop attacks on Ukraine. At the same time, Kyiv should refrain from attempts to return militarily the territories controlled by the Russian Federation in Ukrainian regions, such as Crimea, Donbas, parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

As part of the same document, it is proposed to transfer the Zaporizhia NPP from Russian control to an unnamed third party and begin negotiations to allow Ukraine to regain control of the plant.

Russia is offered the lifting of part of the sanctions against Moscow and its return to international organizations. Presumably, we are talking about the Council of Europe, from which the Russian Federation was expelled in 2022, and the International Olympic Committee.

It also proposes that during the cease-fire phase, a “Peace Council” chaired by Trump will be created to oversee the implementation of the final peace project – an idea apparently borrowed from the recently released Gaza peace plan. Russia refused to recognize this project, as well as European efforts to achieve peace.

Another attempt by Trump to put pressure on Ukraine and Europe And now Donald Trump has approved a new project with 28 points, which politicians and experts in the world call nothing else than “the surrender of Ukraine.” The initiative, prepared without the participation of Kyiv, provides for the transfer of the entire Donbas to Russian control, a significant reduction of the Ukrainian army and the recognition of the Russian language as official. Ukraine and Europe have already rejected this project as one that involves only unilateral concessions by Ukraine. However, after the negotiations of the Ukrainian and American delegations, the conditions of imprisonment were changed for the better. But this is hardly the final version.

Source: kp.ua