This month, 1,000 people chose to support the Kyiv Independent. Can we count on you, too?
Become a member
Skip to content
Edit post

Russia's first peace offer in 2022 was all but Ukraine's surrender, leaked documents show

by Kateryna Denisova and The Kyiv Independent news desk November 4, 2024 8:34 PM 3 min read
Ukrainian and Russian officials pose prior to the talks between delegations from Kyiv and Moscow in Belarus on March 7, 2022. (Maxim Guchek/Belta/AFP via Getty Images)
This audio is created with AI assistance

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) investigation project Sistema reported on Nov. 4 it had obtained the first draft of Moscow's peace offer to Kyiv, issued days after the start of Russia's all-out war against Ukraine.

Moscow and Kyiv held unsuccessful talks in Belarus and Turkey in the early months of the full-scale war, with no direct negotiations having been taking part ever since.

The six-page document, published by Sistema, had four pages of annexes and was dated March 7, 2022. Russian delegation handed it over to the Ukrainian side during the third round of talks in Belovezhskaya Pushcha in Belarus.

Sistema received a draft from an unnamed Ukrainian source familiar with the talks, and a Russian source who confirmed its authenticity.

The unilateral terms of the document apparently meant Kyiv's capitulation, the article read.

The New York Times (NYT) in June published the 17-page purported draft in full dated April 15, 2022. Although it has similarities to the first draft, such as the lifting of all sanctions against Moscow, Russia softened its stance on other demands.

Ukraine struggles to contain Russian advance in Donetsk Oblast as US elections loom
As voters in the U.S. head to the polls in presidential elections set to decisively steer the trajectory of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the situation on the battlefield is beginning to unravel for Kyiv. After two years of brutal attritional warfare across southern and eastern Ukraine,…

In the initial document, dated March 7, Moscow demanded Ukraine to reduce its army to 50,000 people, five times less than the country had by 2022, as well as reduce the number of ships, helicopters, and tanks.

Russia planned to ban Ukraine from developing "any other types of weapons as a result of scientific research." According to the draft, Moscow demanded not to produce, acquire or deploy in Ukraine missile weapons "of any type with a range of more than 250 km."

Ukraine also reportedly should have confirmed the independence of the country's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, by then partly occupied by Russia, and rebuild the the regions' infrastructure destroyed since following Russia's invasion.

Among other things, Russia demanded to de facto legalize Soviet and communist symbols in Ukraine.

Russian President Putin said in June 2024 that, as a condition for peace negotiations, Ukrainian troops must leave the country's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. He added that Ukraine must recognize Russia's annexation of the regions and abandon any ambition to join NATO. Kyiv rejected this demand.

Ukraine said the peace talks should be held on the basis of its 10-step peace formula, which includes a full withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.

Ukraine open to Qatar mediating energy security with Russia, says no talks currently ongoing
Ukraine is not holding direct talks with Russia on an energy ceasefire but is open to a third country mediating the implementation of the peace formula, said Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, in a televised interview on Nov. 4.
Let’s see how far we can go?
We’ve been amazed by your support. We’ve reached our initial goal of finding 1,000 new paying members. We still have till the end of our birthday campaign — with more support, we can do even more good journalism. Over 13,000 people are standing behind us. Can we count on you, too?
Show us support this birthday month
Become a member
visa masterCard americanExpress

News Feed

11:50 PM

US announces $988 million military aid package for Ukraine.

The latest aid package will be pulled through the remaining $2 billion in funding from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) — a Pentagon-led program for supplying arms to Ukraine through contracts with U.S. defense companies.
5:32 PM  (Updated: )

Russian attack on Kryvyi Rih kills 3, injures 17, including 6-year-old boy.

Russian forces attacked Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on Dec. 6, killing two people and injuring 17, including a six-year-old boy, according to Governor Serhii Lysak. The death toll rose to three on Dec. 7 when rescuers recovered another body from the rubble.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.