Turkey reportedly proposes new draft peace treaty to Zelensky and Putin

Novaya Gazeta Europe has learned of a proposed peace deal aimed at ending the war in Ukraine that has the backing of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and whose main points are an agreement to freeze the conflict and to refrain from using nuclear weapons.

According to a source familiar with the proposal, Russia and Ukraine are both currently considering the draft text, which is based on initial negotiations carried out shortly after the war began in 2022. The peace plan would likely gain the support of a number of European politicians and will also be proposed to countries in the Global South, the source said.

The draft treaty reportedly proposes the following:

• a commitment by both the US and Russia not to use nuclear weapons under any circumstances, and to resume the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (Start III), including a clause that would prohibit unilateral withdrawal from the treaty.

• non-interference in the internal affairs of another country in any way that could destabilise its government.

• freezing the war along the current front line.

• a commitment to hold referendums in 2040: a national Ukrainian referendum on the country’s foreign policy, and referendums to be held under international supervision in all Ukrainian territories annexed by Russia at the time the conflict was frozen.

• a guarantee that Ukraine remains non-aligned until 2040.

• an exchange of all prisoners of war.

• Russia not objecting to Ukraine joining the European Union.

This is at least the ninth draft of its kind, and it’s unlikely that this latest proposal will be adopted.

The Ukrainian peace plan of 2022 had 10 points, few of which overlap with the Turkish plan, and that included an obligation for Russian troops to withdraw from Ukraine and steps to formalise the end of the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky set two main conditions for peace in 2023; the return of Ukraine’s territory to its 1991 borders and the withdrawal of Russian troops, including the Black Sea Fleet, from Ukrainian territory.