A week after a month since the most conflictive stage of the war began, Vladimir Putin continues with his troops at their best, although they are already beginning to show signs of a weakness that could put an end to warmongering. For this reason, but also some conditions that the Russian president has always put on the table and are, for his interests, unalterable.
At the time that the Ukrainian president Volodímir Zelenski participated these days by videoconference in the United States Congress, where he has requested the greatest possible support from NATO, the negotiations between his front and that of Putin continue to be anchored without a common point that would lead to a ceasefire.
Only with humanitarian corridors in different areas of Ukraine, to help civilians, world leaders continue to try to defuse the conflict so that it does not escalate further.
Zelensky acknowledges that it is practically impossible for Ukraine to join NATO
To this end, in recent days representatives of the US and China have met in Rome, while the leaders of France and Germany have tried to bring their positions closer together. Something that they have also tried to achieve from Poland, Slovenia or the Czech Republic, meeting with Zelenski to try to strengthen his position.
A Ukrainian president who has already accepted that it is practically impossible for his country to join NATO, one of the reasons why the conflict began, but while maintaining his idea of joining the European Union. and that he clashes squarely with Putin’s interests.
These are Putin’s conditions to stop the war
Some conditions that the Russian president has always put on the table, since he has seen that completely annexing the Ukrainian territory is a utopia. His main reason for initiating the invasion on February 24, for historical and cultural reasons, but which has now resulted in six requirements that, if granted, could be key to stopping the war:
– Ukraine’s non-entry into NATO and the EU. The first already assumed by Zelensky, the second follows his processes since the president requested his accession and the 27 member states began the procedures for it.
– Recognition of Crimea as a Russian zone. Key to the start of the conflict in 2014, when this region requested its independence from Ukraine and become part of Russia, Putin maintains that a ceasefire goes through international recognition.
– Independence of Donestsk and Luhansk. In the same way, although not belonging to Russia but with direct control from Moscow, another condition involves the independence of these two regions of Ukraine.
– Depose the leaders of Ukraine. Another of Putin’s mantras in recent years about Ukraine is that this country has been governed by ultra-nationalist leaders whom the Russian leader has branded as “Nazis.” Contrary to when Victor Yanukovych ruled, with a clear ideology close to Moscow, for Putin Zelensky and all ultra-nationalist parties should be prohibited.
– Demilitarize Ukraine. Although, with the fall of the Soviet Union, a condition for the recognition of Ukraine was that it hand over its weapons to Russia, the war has once again demonstrated the Ukrainian arms power, something that Putin wants to avoid so that it does not pose a direct threat to Ukraine. Moscow.
– Make Russian an official language in Ukraine. With a large population of Russian descent, Ukraine does not recognize the Russian language as official and has laws that prohibit its use in certain atmospheres. For this reason, Putin wants the cultural legitimacy that he has in kyiv and its surroundings to be granted, as well as his teaching to be promoted among the new generations.
Russia proposes a model of neutrality in Ukraine
In the same way, in the last hours one of the options that has been considered for the end of the war is Ukraine. According to the Financial Times, this plan would be part of a 15-point ceasefire proposal that would attach to some of the basic conditions for Putin on Ukraine.
However, according to different international media, the Ukrainian government has already rejected the neutrality model. However, Dmitri Peskov, spokesman for the Kremlin, has assured the press that the proposal is a possibility. “This option is really being discussed now, and it is an option that can be considered neutral,” he said in statements collected by the FT.
On the other hand, Mykhailo Podolyak, Zelensky’s main adviser, has defended that any agreement will imply that “the troops of the Russian Federation leave the territory of Ukraine in any case”. Something that does not seem so easy: the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has maintained his position that the war is “fully justified” and “is developing successfully”, according to the Interfax agency.