Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that no peace with Ukraine is possible unless it includes four Ukrainian regions joining Russia.
In late September, the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), as well as the regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye held a referendum that was not recognized by the West, in which the majority of voters––some of them at gunpoint––opted to join Russia. On September 30, President Vladimir Putin and the heads of the four regions signed treaties declaring their consent to become part of Russia. On October 4, Putin signed laws ratifying those sham treaties.
The Kremlin official was responding to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s initiative to come up with a peace plan by February 2023, to be debated at a UN peace summit.
“No Ukrainian peace plan is possible if it does not take into account the modern reality – with Russia’s territory, with four new regions joining Russia,” Putin’s press secretary stressed, adding, “Any plan that does not take into account these circumstances cannot claim to be a peace plan.”
Zelensky’s peace plan includes these120 items, calling for:
1. Radiation and nuclear safety, focusing on restoring safety around Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine, which is now Russian-occupied.
2. Food security, including protecting and ensuring Ukraine’s grain exports to the world’s poorest nations.
3. Energy security, with a focus on price restrictions on Russian energy resources, as well as aiding Ukraine with restoring its power infrastructure, half of which has been damaged by Russian attacks.
4. Release of all prisoners and deportees, including war prisoners and children deported to Russia.
5. Restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity and Russia reaffirming it according to the UN Charter, which is not up to negotiations.
6. Withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, restoration of Ukraine’s state borders with Russia.
7. Justice, including the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes.
8. Ecocide, protection of the environment, with a focus on demining and restoring water treatment facilities.
9. Prevention of escalation of conflict, and building security architecture in the Euro-Atlantic space, including guarantees for Ukraine.
10. Confirmation of the war’s end, including a document signed by the involved parties.
(Source: The Economic Times)
Before 2022, Russia occupied 16,000 sq mi of Ukrainian territory (Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk), and added 46,000 sq mi during its full-scale invasion by March 2022, reaching a total of 62,000 sq mi, or almost 27% of Ukraine’s total territory
However, the Institute for the Study of War has calculated that by November 11, Ukrainian forces liberated an area of 28,743 sq mi from Russian occupation.
