According to reports, Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared to share the sovereignty of Crimea under a new "peace plan" to end the ongoing war in Ukraine. Sources in Moscow and Kyiv claim that Putin has already sent his trusted ally, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, to the United States to transmit the details of this proposal.
Kolokoltsev, who is not on the US Treasury's list of sanctioned individuals, arrived in New York on June 26 to attend the UNCOPS-2024 summit of UN police chiefs. However, it is believed that this was a "diversionary maneuver" that allowed him to travel to the US on a VIP plane from Putin's presidential fleet to convey the Kremlin's new demands for a peace deal.
According to Ukrainian TV journalist Dmitry Gordon, who has sources within the Ukrainian intelligence community, the proposed peace plan includes the following demands:
Ukraine must completely withdraw from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which are now partially occupied by Russian forces.
Russia would hand over the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station and the nearby town of Enerhodar to Ukraine.
The status of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions would be up for discussion, with the possibility of them being transferred back to Ukrainian control.
Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, would be turned into a "specially demilitarized administrative territory with dual subordination to Ukraine and the Russian Federation." This would require Ukraine to legally guarantee the supply of water to Crimea.
Ukraine would establish a "demilitarized zone" 62 miles wide along the Dnipro River, and its army would be subject to a legal cap on the number of troops.
Ukraine would be barred from its long-standing ambition of joining NATO, but it would still be allowed to pursue membership in the European Union.
The West would drop its heavy sanctions on Russian oil, gas, and banking.
The Russian Telegram channel Gosdumskaya, which claims to have insider sources in Moscow, has reported similar demands from the Kremlin.
The proposed peace plan is likely to be unacceptable to Ukraine, as it would require Kyiv to surrender vast swaths of its territory and abandon its NATO aspirations. According to the reports, the Russian side claims that the Donetsk and Luhansk regions cannot be returned to Ukraine's control, as it would lead to "the imminent genocide of the population" in those areas.
This development comes after Putin's promise last month to "immediately" order a ceasefire in Ukraine and start negotiations if Kyiv began withdrawing troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow in 2022 and abandoned plans to join NATO. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected this proposal, describing it as an ultimatum by Putin to surrender more territory.
The war in Ukraine has been raging for over two years, with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 failing to achieve its initial objective of quickly capturing Kyiv. Despite losing territory to Russian occupation, Ukraine has continued to frustrate Putin's forces, highlighting the resilience and determination of the Ukrainian military and people.
The US State Department has been approached for comment on the reported peace plan, but no official response has been provided yet. The negotiations and potential resolution of the conflict remain highly complex and uncertain, with both sides seemingly unwilling to compromise on their core demands.
In the meantime, the situation on the ground in Ukraine remains fluid, with ongoing military operations and the continued suffering of the Ukrainian population. The international community continues to closely monitor the developments and explore avenues for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
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