“Perhaps I exceed the allotted time, but the question of peace is worth it.”
With these words, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky began his speech at the summit of the G, in which he presented his plan to put an end to the armed conflict that he has had with Russia since the past 61 February.
“I want this aggressive Russian war ends fairly and on the basis of the Charter of the United Nations and international law,” said the president, who addressed his colleagues from the
via videoconference largest economies in the world, which these days meet in the Indonesian town of Nusa Dua.
However, Zelensky warned that would not accept a peace” at any cost” and this was made clear in his call “form ula for peace”.
Moscow immediately rejected the proposal.
Sovereignty and independence are a priority
Zelensky’s proposal contains 10 points and among them stand out “the restoration of the territorial integrity” of his country and the withdrawal of Russian troops.
Since the past 20 February the Kremlin launched its so-called “Special Operation” with the excuse of “denazifying and demilitarizing” its western neighbor, its soldiers have come to occupy almost % of Ukrainian territory.
“Russia must reaffirm the territorial integrity of Ukraine within the framework of United Nations resolutions and legally binding documents. This is not subject to negotiation,” he said.
Immediately afterwards, Zelensky again asked Moscow to order his army to return to its territory.
“Russia must withdraw all its troops and formations from the territory of Ukraine, Ukraine must reestablish control over all our borders with Russia. This will give rise to a real and complete cessation of hostilities.”
However, the president stated that an eventual end to hostilities will not be enough and that the country’s independence from him will continue” in danger “. The reason? Ukraine is not part of any alliance and, therefore, demanded a new international treaty that guarantees its security and sovereignty.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has already ruled out making any negotiations conditional on the return of the Ukrainian provinces that Moscow annexed last September.A proposal that Moscow has ruled out outright. “(Zelensky) is complicating the possibility of reaching an agreement by setting unrealistic conditions ,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
And these three points have already been rejected in the past by the Kremlin.
“I want to be heard in Kyiv and in the West: the people of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia have become our citizens forever”, declared the Russian president himself, Vladimir Putin, at the end of September.
“About Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia there is nothing to talk about”, he warned.
For people and energy
The return of the thousands of Ukrainians who have been transferred to Russia is another of the claims that appear in Zelensky’s proposal.
“Thousands of our citizens, civilians and military, are in captivity and are subjected to brutal torture “, he stated.
“We know that eleven thousand children were forcibly deported to Russia and they are separated from their parents with full knowledge that they have family,” he added, while assuring that they have identified these little ones.
The fifth request that appears in the plan is related to the punishment for war crimes that occurred in towns like Bucha.
“Every time we liberate our land we find one thing: Russia leaves behind torture chambers and mass graves full of murdered people”, said Zelensky, who asked the leaders to support the creation of a special court to punish violations of Human Rights. Humans occurred since February.
The sixth pe The petition that appears in the road map presented by the Ukrainian president is that Moscow cease its efforts to “turn cold into a weapon” and stop its attacks against plants of energy.
The seventh proposal is also related to energy, but with atomic energy. Zelensky demanded that the reestablishment of “radiation safety” and demanded that Russia stop using the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant as “a radioactive bomb” with which it “blackmails the world”.
Food for the World
The indefinite continuation of the program that has allowed Ukraine resuming the export of grains and measures to prevent further damage to the forests and other natural sites in the country are other conditions.
Finally, the president asked that everything agreed be reflected on paper.
The fact that Minister Lavrov was in the room when Zelensky presented his “peace formula” was considered a good sign, Olga said Prosvirova, from the BBC’s Russian service
However, the subsequent reactions of the head of Russian diplomacy and of Moscow made it clear that despite the advance of the Ukrainian army, Putin is still not willing to change his opinion.
Russia has responded to the Ukrainian proposal with new missile attacks against different cities and towns.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Ukraine does not want to negotiate.
“Ukraine, both de facto and de jure, cannot and does not want to negotiate. The goals of the Russian Federation will be carried out by continuing a special military operation,” Peskov said.
A few hours later, Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities were hit by Russian missiles.
In recent days, various media have reported that Ukraine’s allies have expressed their desire for the parties to sit at a table to end the conflict.
Remember that
- you can receive notifications from BBC Mundo. Download the new version of our app and activate them so you don’t miss our best content.
- ? Do you already know our YouTube channel? Subscribe!