The United States has proposed a 28-point peace plan aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. This plan is currently being reviewed by Ukraine, Russia, and other interested European nations. It largely fulfills many of Russia’s demands but also includes challenging terms that would prevent Russia from fully achieving its war aims and would require it to withdraw from some captured areas.
Key points of contention in the plan include Ukraine having to cede the entire Donetsk region to Russia, which includes important cities like Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine has stated he will not give up any territory. The plan also secures Russia’s gains made since February 2022 in four regions—Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Donetsk—and makes the 2014 annexation of Crimea permanent.
The plan calls for compromises on the status of the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, proposing it to operate under shared control between Russia and Ukraine. However, the recognition of the territories as Russian would only be “de facto,” which Russia may find unacceptable. Russia would not maintain military presence in the part of Donetsk given to it, instead, it would become a demilitarized buffer zone. Additionally, Russian troops would need to withdraw from other regions they occupy, like Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk.
Western nations have frozen around $300 billion in Russian assets as punishment for the war. Russia demands these assets be unfrozen and has threatened actions against the EU, which plans to lend Ukraine using these funds. The U. S. plan requires Russia to contribute $100 billion to a rebuilding effort in Ukraine, with the U. S. taking a considerable profit from it. The plan restricts the spending of frozen Russian funds for both countries.
Under the agreement, Ukraine would have to forgo pursuing reparations for war damage in courts against Russia. Ukraine would also need to abandon its ambition to join NATO, and its constitution would reflect this change. NATO would promise not to admit Ukraine, while also agreeing not to expand further, meeting a significant demand from Russia. However, the security guarantees provided to Ukraine by Washington are vaguely defined, with no mention of specific details.
The plan limits Ukraine’s military size to 600,000 troops, which is below its current number of one million. Ukraine has historically objected to such limitations and Russia originally asked for the military size to be under 100,000. Ukrainian officials’ hopes for legal accountability against Russia for war crimes would also be diminished under this plan. Furthermore, provision for Russia’s re-entry into the Group of Eight and increased business cooperation with the U. S. in various sectors is included. Lastly, the plan demands that Ukraine must renounce any “Nazi ideology or activity,” a claim that Ukraine disputes.
With information from Reuters