Ukraine reiterates its 'red lines' amid speculations about military size, territory
Ukraine remains ready for peace talks with Russia but will never formally recognize the Russian occupation or accept restrictions on its army size or alliances, Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said on Nov. 24.
These are the "red lines" that nobody can cross, "neither physically, nor legally, nor morally," Stefanchuk said during the Parliamentary Summit of the Crimean Platform in Stockholm.
"No recognition of Russia's occupation of Ukrainian territories, no limits on the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and no veto over Ukraine's choice of future alliances," the official said.
The statement comes days after the U.S. proposed a controversial 28-point peace plan that would see Ukraine's peacetime military capped at 600,000 troops, force Kyiv to cede the entire Donbas region, and ban it from seeking NATO membership.
The proposal, which sparked pushback among European partners and U.S. lawmakers, was reportedly reduced to 19 points following consultations between Ukrainian and U.S. officials in Geneva on Nov. 23.
The two sides praised the meeting as "productive" and said they would continue to work on an updated plan, with key topics, such as territorial issues and relations between Russia, the U.S., and NATO, to be addressed later by the Ukrainian and U.S. presidents.
The full details of the updated version have not been made public.
Kyiv has long maintained it would not recognize the Russian occupation of the Ukrainian territory, calling instead for a ceasefire along the current front lines — a proposal rejected by Moscow.
Ukraine has also insisted on being able to pursue NATO and EU membership, while Moscow has repeatedly named a ban on Kyiv's entry into the U.S.-led military alliance as one of its key demands.
The size of the Armed Forces has been another key sticking point, with Ukraine and its European partners often referring to a strong Ukrainian military as the best security guarantee.
It remains unclear whether the updated version includes any caps on Ukraine's military size. An earlier counter-proposal presented by Kyiv's European allies called for raising the limit to 800,000 troops during peacetime, which would still make it one of the largest armies on the continent.
