While Zelensky admits negotiating an exchange of territories, suggesting to give up the areas occupied by the Ukrainian forces in the Russian region of Kursk, Moscow rejects this idea and insists on controlling the entire five regions in dispute.
Kiev requires a “fair peace” and security guarantees from Europeans and Americans, namely peace maintenance forces.
Moscow wants the territories he occupies, but also wants to attack the “roots” of the conflict, namely the presence of the born in its borders.
What are the main differences between Russian and Ukrainian positions? According to the French agency AFP:
Territories
For Ukraine, the goal is return to its internationally recognized bordersincluding those recognized by Russia, from 1991, when the Soviet Union, which was part, collapsed.
In practical terms, this would mean that Moscow would waive five regions attached: Crimea, since 2014, and the regions claimed by Putin since 2022 and occupied at different degrees (Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporijia and Kherson).
Kiev admits the need for negotiations on this point, but the goal remains the territorial integrity of the country and its full sovereignty.
Moscow assumes a maximalist position: wants to control the entire five regions concerned and not just the areas currently occupied.
It remains the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, partially occupied by Russia, but whose annexation has not yet been claimed.
The United States finds an unrealistic border of borders before 2014, thus excluding the return of Crimea, and seem to imagine an agreement based on the current front lines.
Peace Maintenance Troops
Ukraine considers that peace is impossible without the sending of foreign forces in which it trusts. Otherwise, it says that Nothing will stop Russia from invading it again.
On January 22, Zelensky estimated that at least 200,000 soldiers from should be sent to ensure Ukraine safety.
Zelensky also wants an American commitment, because without the military and diplomatic weight of the United States there can be no security for Ukraine.
On Wednesday, however, Washington excluded any shipping from US troops.
On the Russian side, the opposition is in principle: the forces of NATO countries, an organization considered as an existential threat to Russia, will not enter Ukrainian territory.
From a Putin has insisted on the desire to demilitarize the neighboring country, accusing the Ukrainian authorities of being Nazis.
NATO
For Ukraine, the entry into the NATO, the organization of the North Atlantic Treaty, is the cornerstone of the country’s security.
If Kiev wants to live without fear, adherence to the NATO is necessary for Ukraine to be covered by Article 5 of the Treaty, which provides for mutual assistance between states in case of aggression.
So far, NATO Member States have supported Kiev’s ambition and adherence in the more or less distant future, but Trump put a stone in the shoe on Wednesday, considering unrealistic adhesion.
Moscow considers that the integration of Ukraine in the NATO, or any other country that is in the zone of Russian influence, is a Red line.
Kremlin hinted that he is ready for a large -scale conflict, or even for the use of nuclear weapons.
In December 2021, when the western world tried to mobilize to prevent the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow sent to the United States a series of requirements, described as “security guarantees” to Russia.
One central point was the desire to freeze NATO geography in 1997, with the native-russian agreement and before the east alliance widening vacancy, preventing allies from putting soldiers and equipment in the countries that have in the meantime joined, demanding the withdrawal of the troops already parked in these countries.
The list includes the Baltic States and Poland, which borders Russia, and Romania and Bulgaria on the Black Sea border.
