Russia-Ukraine Peace Demands: What Russia Wants
Russia Presents Ukraine With Potential Frameworks for Ending War
At talks in Istanbul on Monday,Russian negotiators presented Ukrainian counterparts with a memorandum outlining two potential frameworks for ending Moscow’s full-scale invasion. The proposals assert Moscow’s maximalist demands for ending the war.
One framework requires Kyiv to fully withdraw from the Donetsk,Luhansk,Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.A 30-day ceasefire would begin once this troop withdrawal starts, according to the memorandum. Ukraine would also need to relocate its military to an agreed distance from the Russian border.
The second option, the “package proposal,” does not explicitly demand the immediate surrender of the four regions but sets out a sweeping list of requirements. These include an immediate ban on Ukrainian mobilization efforts and the start of demobilization. Also demanded: an end to all foreign military aid, intelligence-sharing and satellite support to Kyiv, plus a guarantee that no sabotage operations would be carried out inside Russian territory.
The second proposal calls for a bilateral amnesty that would release detained civilians on both sides. It also stipulates that Ukraine hold presidential and parliamentary elections within 100 days of lifting martial law. Foreign military personnel would have to leave Ukraine, and the movement of Ukrainian forces would be restricted, except for thier withdrawal from border areas.
According to an Interfax source familiar with the talks, the two delegations met following a 2.5-hour in-person meeting between Ukrainian Defense Minister rustem Umerov and Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky. The source described this meeting as an important step in setting the tone for the broader negotiations.
Moscow’s memorandum outlines a number of long-standing Kremlin demands, several of which are likely to be non-starters for Kyiv and its Western allies. These include:
- International recognition of Russian sovereignty over the occupied ukrainian regions, including Crimea.
- A formal commitment by Ukraine not to join any military alliances or coalitions.
- Official status for the Russian language in Ukraine.
- Lifting of all existing sanctions between the two countries and a pledge not to impose new ones.
- Restoration of Russian natural gas transit through Ukraine and the resumption of full economic, diplomatic and transport ties.
- Mutual renunciation of claims for war-related damages.
- Restrictions on the size and structure of Ukraine’s military.
- A ban on the “glorification or promotion of Nazism and neo-Nazism” and the dissolution of nationalist parties.
- Confirmation of Ukraine’s non-nuclear status.
- Removal of legal restrictions on the Ukrainian orthodox Church affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate.
Ukrainian officials have not yet publicly commented on the memorandum.
What’s next
Negotiations are expected to continue,though the likelihood of either side fully accepting the other’s terms remains uncertain. The international community watches closely, hoping for a diplomatic resolution to the ongoing conflict.