Documents reveal Russia's initial 'peace deal' equated to the surrender of Ukraine: report

Newly revealed documents of Russia’s first proposal in 2022 in an alleged attempt to end its so-called "special operation" in Ukraine in actuality resembled an agreement to surrender, reported Radio Free Europe on Monday.

The documents obtained by the Europe-based outlet showed that on March 7, 2022 – 11 days after Russia’s invasion began and one week after talks between Moscow and Kyiv started – Russia presented a document dubbed the "Agreement on settlement of the situation in Ukraine and neutrality of Ukraine."

But according to the outlet, the "neutrality of Ukraine" essentially meant Russia was hoping to turn the former Soviet nation into a "puppet" regime of the Kremlin's.

Ukrainian service members are seen at the site of fighting with a Russian raiding group in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, Feb. 26, 2022. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)

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The Russian proposal apparently called for Kyiv to give up Crimea – which Russia seized a decade ago – as well as the Donbas – where separatist forces had been fighting with Ukrainian troops since 2014. But it called on Ukraine to hand over both the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that make up easternmost Ukraine and which Russia has still been unable to seize despite years of brutal fighting. 

The proposal also called on Kyiv to pledge to never join the NATO alliance and to whittle down its military to just 50,000 soldiers from the 250,000-strong military force that stood before the invasion. 

Four ships, 55 helicopters and 300 tanks would reportedly have been permitted to remain in Ukraine.

Kyiv, should it have agreed to the terms, would also have been barred from possessing or developing any missiles with a strike range of 250 km (155 miles) – roughly the distance that separates the Crimean bridge from the Ukrainian-controlled territory on the front lines in the Zaporizhzhia region. 

Ukrainian servicemen ride a BREM-1 evacuation tank near the front line of Vuhledar, in Donetsk region, Ukraine March 6, 2023. (Reuters/Lisi Niesner)

By the end of April 2022, the talks had failed after Ukraine rejected Moscow's terms and successfully ended Russian attempts to seize Kyiv – the same month that the extent of the atrocities committed in Bucha by Russian forces were also revealed. 

After nearly 1,000 days of war, Russia has been unable to actually seize any region from Ukraine since its Feb. 22, 2022, invasion – though Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed to have annexed Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk in September of that year. 

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Several attempts to hold peace talks have been pushed, though to little avail, as Ukraine remains steadfast in its assertion that the war will end once Russia withdraws its troops and ceases its illegal invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center left, examines the site of a recent battle in Bucha, close to Kyiv, Ukraine, April 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Following Ukraine’s success in blocking Russian forces from seizing the capital city, ousting Russia from several key areas, and largely holding the line in the east over the last two years – though it saw some setbacks this year when U.S. military aid temporarily slowed – the West has championed Moscow’s failures.

The U.S. and NATO allies have substantially backed Ukraine with military support, though it has stopped short of sending in international troops, and concerns about Ukrainian manpower have remained a chief issue in the war. 

Though Ukraine began immediately conscripting men to fight among its ranks and significantly expanded its fighting force with some 900,000 active-duty soldiers as of 2024, along with another 1.2 million reserve forces, according to Statista, it is still a fraction of the size of Russia’s military.

Russia is reported to have 1.3 million active-duty soldiers with another 2 million in reserves, as well as up to 10,000 North Korean soldiers that are expected to join its war machine.

Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery in the direction of Marinka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on Feb. 23, 2024. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Russia is now seeing its highest number of casualties than at any other time since the war began with some 1,200 casualties reported a day, claimed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week.

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Despite the high number of troop casualties, there still does not appear to be any end in sight to the war – validating early concerns that this would be a war of attrition. 

Reports earlier this year suggested Putin may agree to freeze the fighting on the current battle lines, though he has also repeatedly said Ukraine must agree not to enter NATO if it wants an end to the war. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not only flatly refused to cede any territory to Russia and has demanded that Crimea be returned to Ukraine, but he has also made clear that it is a top security priority for Kyiv to join the NATO alliance.