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Lavrov Rejects Key US Peace Plan Terms on Ukraine, Demands Major Territorial Concessions
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![Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk]( "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected several provisions of the US-proposed 28-point peace plan for Ukraine. These rejections include crucial points on territorial swaps, security guarantees, and Ukraine’s sovereignty, Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported on December 11.
Lavrov dismissed the plan’s proposals to freeze the current lines of contact in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, restart the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) under IAEA control, and provide reliable security guarantees for Ukraine.
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He reaffirmed Russia’s stance on the illegal annexation of territories, claiming Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson as integral parts of Russia, and insisted that Russia cannot cede these regions as they are enshrined in its constitution.
The Russian foreign minister also rejected the plan’s proposal for NATO to cease further enlargement, insisting on the rollback of NATO forces to pre-1997 borders. Additionally, Lavrov rejected the stationing of European fighter jets in Poland and demanded that Russia receive security guarantees, viewing any NATO peacekeeping mission in Ukraine as a “legitimate military target,” ISW wrote.
Lavrov’s rejection of those points highlights Russia’s persistent demands for major concessions, including Ukraine’s non-aligned status and the limitation of Ukraine’s foreign policy. He also dismissed the 20th point of the peace plan, which called for Ukraine to adopt EU regulations on religious tolerance and minority protections, arguing that EU rules were insufficient.
These rejections signal that Russia is unwilling to accept the terms of the proposed peace plan without significant modifications, ISW stated.
Previously, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the US proposal for a compromise regarding Donetsk contains a number of unresolved questions and does not align with Ukraine’s interests.
“I can say how, as of now, the American side sees this and what the problem is. They see that Ukrainian forces are withdrawing from the territory of Donetsk, and the compromise is supposedly that Russian forces will not enter this area. Who will govern the territory they are already calling a ‘free economic zone’ or a ‘demilitarized zone’—they do not know,” Zelenskyy stated.
