“On December 26, the Russian leader said that it does not matter whether Ukraine joins NATO “today, tomorrow or in 10 years.””, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
They recall that this proposal provided for the postponement of Ukraine’s membership in NATO for at least 10 years as a condition for the cessation of hostilities.
On December 26, Putin stated that it does not matter whether Ukraine joins NATO “today, tomorrow or in 10 years.”
“Putin’s Dec. 26 statement is part of a series of comments he has made recently, reiterating his refusal to consider compromises on his demands in late 2021 and early 2022. These demands include forcing Ukraine to become a permanently neutral state that will never join NATO, imposing strict limits on the size of the Ukrainian army, and removing the Ukrainian government,” ISW analysts point out.
Russian President Vladimir Putin calls the basis for any peace talks the so-called “Istanbul Agreements” – a text that, according to the Russian side, was the result of negotiations between representatives of Ukraine and the Russian Federation in March 2022 – in the first weeks of Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
Radio Svoboda received the draft of this contract. The draft, titled “Treaty on the Settlement of the Situation in Ukraine and the Neutrality of Ukraine,” is dated March 7, 2022, 11 days after Russia launched its invasion and a week after the start of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
After the Russian army went on the offensive on almost all sections of the common border with Ukraine, Russia proposed a treaty, the unilateral terms of which meant the capitulation of Kyiv.
The project, among other things, provided for Ukraine to reduce its army to 50,000 people, including 1,500 officers (this is five times less than Ukraine had by 2022).