Die Welt publishes the peace agreement that Ukraine and Russia could have signed in April 2022

Only a few points remained unagreed and should have been discussed personally by Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a summit, but this never happened.

In this treaty, Ukraine should have committed to maintain “permanent neutrality”. By doing so, Kiev would have renounced any membership in military alliances. Thus, the country’s accession to NATO would have been excluded.

Ukraine had to agree never to “receive, produce or acquire” nuclear weapons, not to allow foreign weapons and troops into the country, and not to allow access to its military infrastructure, including airfields and seaports, to any other country. In moreover, Kiev should have refrained from conducting military exercises with foreign participation and from participating in any military conflicts.According to Article 3 of the document, nothing would have explicitly prevented Kiev from becoming a member of the EU.

In response, Russia promised not to attack Ukraine again. In order to provide Kiev with this assurance, Moscow would have agreed that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, which are the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China and Russia itself, should provide Ukraine with comprehensive security guarantees. In Article 5 of the draft treaty, Kiev and Moscow would have agreed on a mechanism reminiscent of NATO’s assistance provisions, so that in the event of an attack on Ukraine, the five countries would provide Ukraine with equipment to defend itself within three days.

In the agreement, Ukraine had to give up the territories occupied by Russia in 2014, Crimea and part of Donbas, from the rest of the territory Russia was going to withdraw.

There were also enough dissensions regarding the Ukrainian Army, Russia would have wanted it to be reduced to 85,000 soldiers, while Ukraine requested 250,000. Russia wanted Ukraine to have a maximum of 342 tanks, 1,029 armored vehicles, while Kiev wanted to keep 800 tanks and 2,000 armored vehicles.

And in Aviation, there were disputes, Russia demanded that Ukraine have a maximum of 102 fighter jets and 35 helicopters, while Ukraine wanted 150 fighter jets and 144 helicopters. Russia also set conditions regarding the naval forces, Ukraine should have had only two battleships, while Ukraine asked for eight ships.

Russia also demanded that the Russian language be declared the second official language, and that Ukraine renounce the international effort to regain the lost territories.

During the negotiations, Zelensky and Putin were required to sign the agreement on April 22.

Die Welt writes that Davyd Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian delegation, suggested in November 2023 why the leaders of the two countries did not meet. Then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in Kiev on April 9 and said that London was “not going to sign anything” with Putin and that Ukraine should continue fighting. Johnson later denied that he had ever said that, May reports Pravda Ukraine.