by Petr Akopov
[REGNUM] Vladimir Putin for the first time put forward the conditions for the cessation of hostilities and the start of negotiations to end the conflict in Ukraine, and he did this literally on the eve of the “peace summit” opening tomorrow in Switzerland.
Putin’s proposal is short and clear - Ukraine withdraws troops from the territory of the Russian Federation, that is, four new entities: the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, and announces the abandonment of plans to join NATO.
After this, the president gives an order for a ceasefire and the start of negotiations, an indispensable condition of which should be Ukraine’s acceptance of a non-aligned non-nuclear status with the demilitarization and denazification of this state.
Putin specifically emphasized that this is not about freezing the conflict, but about its final settlement. But if the West and Kyiv refuse the offer, then responsibility for the bloodshed will be theirs.
The reaction to Putin’s proposal is predictable - not only Kyiv, but also the West will declare them an ultimatum, a threat, a desire to consolidate the “annexation” of territories taken from Ukraine. And he will reject it.
However, the president did not expect his terms to be accepted. His goal was completely different.
First, Putin needed to finally bury the West’s attempts to assemble some semblance of a global coalition to force Russia to peace.
It is clear that the summit in Switzerland had already failed even before it began, but now it will be devoted to discussing Putin’s proposal.
If previously the West convinced the Global South that Russia was not interested in negotiations and wanted to take over all of Ukraine, now there is a peace proposal that cannot be ignored. Simple and clear. If you want to stop the war right now, we are ready. On conditions that are more than mild for Ukraine, if we talk about territories.
Moscow does not demand either Kharkov or Odessa - it is enough to withdraw the Ukrainian Armed Forces from those territories that have already become part of Russia and abandon the course of joining NATO.
For the world majority, such a proposal looks absolutely logical and acceptable for discussion. And at the very least, depriving the West and Kyiv of arguments about Russia’s aggressive plans, that is, about the upcoming campaign against Europe after the conquest of Ukraine.
“You tell us that Putin will attack Poland and the Baltic states, but he is ready to give up even Kharkov - does that mean you are deceiving us? — that’s roughly what the leaders of a number of countries in the Global South, who came to the summit in Italy, can ask the leaders of the G7 countries today. “If the main goal of the West is to defend the independence of Ukraine and end the war, why don’t you immediately agree to Putin’s proposal?”
And the collective Biden has no answer to these questions.
Because telling Asian, African and Latin American leaders that it is fundamentally important to punish the aggressor and prevent the revision of borders in Europe is simply ridiculous.
Everyone not only remembers Iraq, but right now they are observing the West’s careful attitude towards the genocidal Netanyahu.
Therefore, for refusing to even discuss Putin’s proposal, the West will have to pay for the further degradation of its relations with the collective South - and this was one of the main goals of the president’s statements.
At the same time, within our country, his initiative caused discontent among a part of society - how can this be, because just recently it was said that Odessa is a Russian city! So now Putin is going back on his words?
Of course not.
The President made an offer to the West and Kyiv that they simply could not refuse. With all its policies and rhetoric, the West (not to mention Zelensky - but it is not he who decides) has put itself in a position in which it cannot accept Putin’s conditions.
This is the paradox - Putin makes an offer that is actually very beneficial to the West and which they are actually dreaming about (and even openly hinting at), but the West cannot accept this offer right now (and this is important). And then it won’t happen again.
But that is precisely why Putin is doing it at a time when he is absolutely sure that the West does not have a single chance to take us at our word and agree to the conditions set out.
This is the art of diplomacy - to exploit weaknesses in the enemy's position and rhetoric.
Diplomacy does not replace or abolish war, but, being its continuation and addition, it can significantly facilitate and accelerate the achievement of military goals. Which remain unchanged - Russia will not allow Ukraine to be anti-Russia.