On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declared that there can be no peace plan without considering “today’s realities” of four Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia – having joined Russia, effectively rejecting the Ukrainian proposal to end the war.
“Any plan that does not take into account these circumstances cannot claim to be a peace plan,” Peskov added.
4/ @TheStudyofWar has continuously reported that #Russia is using the discussion of negotiations as an information operation to force #Ukraine into making massive concessions on Russia’s terms.
— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) December 29, 2022
In fact, earlier this month, Peskov remarked that it is imperative that the West recognise Russia’s annexations of new territories before Moscow agrees to peace talks, noting that refusing to do so would make negotiations difficult. He added that the Kremlin would not withdraw its troops from Ukraine and the West should not insist on the point.
In September, people in Ukraine’s Russia-controlled regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia voted by an “overwhelming majority” to join Russia in referenda conducted from the 23rd to the 27th of the month. However, these referenda were firmly condemned as a “sham” by the West. Nonetheless, in October, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the accession treaties of the four Russian-occupied regions, declaring that the referenda results reflected the people’s “unequivocal choice” to join Russia.
The status of the four illegally annexed regions of Ukraine remains the main sticking point for peace negotiations
— Samuel Ramani (@SamRamani2) December 28, 2022
Zelensky's 10 point peace plan calls for a Russian withdrawal while Russia calls for Ukraine to take their status off the table
However, Russia does not fully control all the newly-annexed territories, as Ukraine managed to retake large swathes of land previously occupied by Moscow. In this regard, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov admitted on Wednesday that the four new Russian regions “need to be liberated from the threat of Nazification that they have faced for years.”
“It stems from the people’s will expressed in the four regions,” he added. Lavrov further remarked that the prospect of Ukraine driving Russia out of eastern Ukraine and getting Moscow to pay war reparations was an “illusion.”
In his speech at the G20 summit in Bali last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a peace plan for ensuring nuclear safety, food and energy security, releasing all prisoners and deported persons, implementing the United Nations (UN) Charter and restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the world order, withdrawing all Russian troops and a cessation of hostilities, restoring justice, countering ecocide (economic suppression), preventing escalation, and confirming the end of the war.
russia’s realities are shame, defeat, and collapse. Without taking into account these realities, no “peace plan” will take place. Communicating with Devils leads to an unfortunate fall out of reality.
— Oleksiy Danilov (@OleksiyDanilov) December 28, 2022
Earlier this month, when he visited the United States (US) in his first foreign trip since the Russian invasion began, Zelensky claimed that his American counterpart, Joe Biden, supported the peace plan. However, during a joint press conference, Biden did not make any remarks on the proposal, only saying that “we share the exact same vision” for Ukraine.
Additionally, on Monday, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba proposed a “peace” summit at the UN in February, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres acting as a mediator between the two warring neighbours. Guterres appeared to be cautious, saying, “I think we’ll have still to wait for a moment in which serious negotiations for peace will be possible.”
🇷🇺 missiles launched across 🇺🇦 including Kyiv and Lviv. Civilians injured. 🇷🇺 rejects @ZelenskyyUa peace plan. Russia does not want peace with Ukraine. Russia wants the subjugation of Ukraine.
— Melinda Simmons (@MelSimmonsFCDO) December 29, 2022
In response, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova rejected Ukraine’s idea of a peace summit, saying, “We regard this insane notion as another PR gimmick by Washington, which has recently been trying to portray the Kyiv regime as a peacemaker.”
Zakharova added that Russia’s participation in such a meeting is only possible in the event of Ukraine’s “complete and unconditional surrender.” “They have already reached a point where they come up with ever more crazy ideas and cloak them in some kind of international legal garb, but the end gain they pursue is the same - to survive without admitting the obvious,” she stressed.