It took weeks for Russia to present Ukraine with a "memorandum" setting out its terms for a ceasefire, as well as key guidelines for a comprehensive agreement to end the more than three-year-old war. It comes as little surprise to anyone that this is a list of the Kremlin's long-standing maximalist demands that Kiev and its Western allies consider unfeasible, writes BTA, citing AP.
Ukraine had set its position ahead of direct peace talks in Istanbul on Monday, stressing its readiness to declare an immediate and unconditional 30-day ceasefire proposed by US President Donald Trump. Kiev has reiterated its position that it will not abandon its attempts to join NATO and has rejected the possibility of recognizing Russia's annexation of any of its Ukrainian regions.
Both sides have drawn mutually exclusive red lines that make a quick agreement unlikely.
Moscow's demands, published in Russian media, clearly show that President Vladimir Putin is determined to ensure the implementation of the goals he set at the start of the invasion on February 24, 2022. The following are key points from the Russian and Ukrainian documents.
Russia has offered Ukraine a choice between two options for declaring a 30-day ceasefire.
One option requires Ukraine to withdraw its forces from Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions - the four regions that Moscow illegally annexed in September 2022 but never fully occupied.
The second option, described by Moscow as a "package" proposal, pressures Ukraine to halt its mobilization efforts and freeze Western arms supplies. These are conditions that were previously proposed by Putin.
On top of that, the document wants Ukraine to begin demobilizing its army, end the deployment of its forces, and ban the presence of any third-party forces on its territory. This "package" option further stipulates that Ukraine end martial law and hold elections, after which the two sides could sign a comprehensive peace treaty. The Russian document states that the conditions for peace must include "international legal recognition" of the territory annexed by Moscow in 2014. Crimean Peninsula and the annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia Oblasts.
The document states that in the future peace treaty, Ukraine must declare a neutral status towards Russia and the West and abandon its attempts to join NATO. The document insists that Ukraine limit the size of its armed forces, recognize Russian as an official language alongside Ukrainian, ban "praising and propagandizing Nazism and neo-Nazism" and disband nationalist formations. These terms reflect Putin’s goals since the beginning of his invasion.
These false claims that neo-Nazi groups are shaping Ukrainian politics under President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, have been strongly rejected by Kiev and its Western allies.
According to Russia’s position, a comprehensive peace treaty should lift all sanctions and restrictions on both sides, reject any demands for reparations, and restore trade and diplomatic ties. Russia’s position also suggests that a peace treaty between Russia and Ukraine should be ratified by a UN Security Council resolution.
The memorandum that Ukraine presented to Moscow ahead of the talks and shared with its allies emphasizes the need for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to pave the way for peace talks. The document reaffirms Ukraine’s consistent rejection of Russian demands for neutrality, describing them as an attack on its sovereignty. In addition, Ukraine states in the memorandum that it is free to choose which alliances it will join and that its accession to NATO will depend on consensus within the alliance. The document emphasizes that Kiev rejects any restrictions on the size and other parameters of its armed forces, as well as restrictions related to the presence of foreign troops on Ukrainian territory.
The Ukrainian memorandum also opposes the recognition of any Russian territorial gains and defines the current line of contact as the starting point for negotiations. The document notes the need for international security guarantees to ensure the implementation of the peace agreements and prevent further aggression. The Ukrainian peace proposal also demands the return of all deported and illegally displaced Ukrainian children and the exchange of all servicemen held captive by both sides. The memorandum leaves the door open for the gradual lifting of some of the sanctions against Russia if it abides by the agreement.
The demands of the two sides are sharply contradictory and offer little hope for rapid progress in the negotiations.
In maintaining its maximalist demands, Moscow is clearly unfazed by the continued threats of sanctions from the West or other forms of pressure for real concessions. Some observers see the Russian memorandum as a means for Moscow to formalize its negotiating position.
"Even the unsigned document gives the Kremlin a more solid diplomatic footing," said Moscow-based defense analyst Sergei Poletaev.
Tatyana Stanovaya, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia-Eurasia Center, believes the document reflects Putin's key goal of securing a "friendly" Ukraine without a full-fledged military or any ties to Western allies. Stanovaya noted that the Russian document offers Ukraine a choice between two options because Moscow knows that Ukrainian withdrawal from the four regions "will never be possible and is trying to push Kiev towards the second option as the main course." At the same time, Moscow's memorandum seems to indicate that "Russia is open to considering the possibility of leaving parts of the annexed areas it does not control to Ukraine".
Stanovaya said that Moscow's maximalist demands meant that "fighting would continue, even if some bilateral interactions were maintained".