Kyiv announced its readiness for negotiations

The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmitry Kuleba, said that Ukraine can begin peace negotiations with Russia within the framework of the “peace formula” proposed by President Vladimir Zelensky.

How writes The Moscow Times, Kyiv is ready to launch a diplomatic process between summits at which Ukraine’s peace plan will be discussed, as Kuleba said in an interview with the Indian television channel NDTV:

“We said that at the first summit we will bring together all the states that share these principles (set out in Zelensky’s “peace formula”), they will choose the menu item they want to work on. <…> Communication with Russia can then take place between the first and second summits in accordance with the rules approved by the participants.”

Earlier, during a visit to Switzerland, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky asked Berne to organize a high-level peace conference to discuss options for resolving the military conflict. Swiss President Viola Amherb said she welcomes the request.

At the end of February, the head of the office of the Ukrainian president, Andriy Ermak, admitted that the Russian side would be invited to the second conference. Zelensky confirmed that Kyiv intends to transfer the settlement plan to Moscow, but stressed that he does not consider this to be negotiations.

Zelensky first presented a 10-point “peace formula” at the G20 summit in November 2022. One of the points involves the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine and a return to the 1991 borders, including the return of Crimea and Donbass.

The Kremlin has repeatedly stated that a peaceful settlement with Kiev can only be achieved taking into account the existing realities “on the ground.” Moscow sets the condition for the end of the war to be the actual recognition of the annexation of about 20% of the territory of Ukraine.

Prior to this, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that security advisers from several countries were discussing the issue of achieving peace in Ukraine. At the same time, he himself believes that peace is possible at any time: for this, in his opinion, it is necessary for the Russian president to withdraw troops from Ukraine.

In turn, Putin has been expressing readiness for a ceasefire and the start of negotiations with Kiev since September last year, The New York Times wrote, citing informed sources. However, he refuses to return the occupied territories, which does not suit Kyiv. However, both sides in the conflict are exhausted, which could create a window for dialogue, said Admiral James Stavridis, former NATO Supreme Commander Europe. He predicted that negotiations between Moscow and Kiev will begin before the end of 2024. He named the most likely time for this to be the period after the US presidential elections in November.

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