REVEALED: US peace plan offers Russia full Donbas control; Calls for $100 billion frozen assets for Ukraine
Russia must reject the new US peace proposal for Ukraine as it is a "provocation" that will not lead to a genuine end to the war, according to Aleksei Zhuravlev, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee.
Zhuravlev argued that the conflict can only be "entirely and definitively resolved through our unequivocal victory on the front and the surrender of Ukraine... In any other outcome, the confrontation will merely be postponed," the official was quoted as writing by The Moscow Times.
According to Zhuravlev, the "American idea is to leave Ukraine as a deterrent factor against Russia." He elaborated: "Even if territorially and militarily reduced, it will still pose a significant threat to us, forcing us to maintain an army on our western borders. This would free up the US to focus on the planned confrontation with China. I hope the Russian side will not accept such provocations," the deputy stated. He added that it would be "strange to equate" the American plan with Russia’s demands, "no matter how much US representatives try to show that signing such an agreement" would be in Moscow's interest.
On November 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had received a 28-point document from the US. The Head of State admitted that the plan could form the basis for a final settlement but specified that no substantial discussion with Russia was underway yet due to Ukraine’s lack of consent. Putin also hinted that he was ready to continue the war, as he is "satisfied with the current dynamics" of the hostilities.
A source close to the Kremlin, quoted by The Guardian, stated that the president "liked" the general outlines of the American proposal. However, Putin was dissatisfied that the plan did not include a legally binding guarantee against "non-expansion of NATO to the East," nor the enshrining of Ukraine's neutral status in its Constitution. Regarding Ukraine's accession to the EU, Russia would only accept this provided that the military component was excluded, the source added, citing the Austrian model of neutrality as an example.
The plan proposed by the United States contains a number of major concessions to Moscow, which Kyiv has repeatedly rejected in the past. These include the transfer of the entire Donbas region to Russian control—including territories Russia has failed to conquer for nearly four years—and a reduction of Ukrainian army personnel to 600,000 soldiers. The document also stipulates that Ukraine will not be able to become a NATO member, host foreign troops, or acquire nuclear weapons.
At the same time, the US proposes freezing the situation in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions along the current line of contact, despite Putin having declared them Russian and incorporating them into the Constitution, and creating a demilitarized zone in the part of the Donetsk region currently under the control of Ukrainian forces. Furthermore, the White House seeks to direct $100 billion from frozen Russian assets in Europe toward Ukraine's reconstruction and offer Ukraine NATO-style security guarantees for a 10-year period.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
