David Arakhamia, Ukraine's former chief negotiator, said Moscow had offered to end the fighting if Kiev pledged to remain neutral and not join NATO.
"The enemy held out hope until the last minute that they could force Ukraine to sign a neutrality agreement. This is the most important thing for Russia. They are ready to end the war if we agree to remain neutral like Finland and pledge not to join NATO," David Arakhamia, leader of Ukraine's ruling Servant of the People party, revealed in an interview published today.
This congressman emphasized that Moscow considers the commitment "Ukraine not to join NATO" the most important content in all negotiations with Kiev.
Arakhamia led the Ukrainian delegation in talks with Russia in Belarus and Türkiye after fighting broke out in early 2022. He is seen as a close ally of President Volodymyr Zelensky and is an important member of the Ukrainian parliament.
MP David Arakhamia during talks with the Russian delegation in Belarus in March 2022. Photo: TASS
President Vladimir Putin first announced in June a draft peace agreement called the "Treaty on the Permanent Neutral Status and Security Guarantees of Ukraine" that was developed by the two sides during negotiations.
The draft contains 18 articles, which address the neutrality and size of Ukraine's armed forces, as well as security guarantees for the country after the conflict ends. Accordingly, Ukraine commits to enshrining "permanent neutrality" in the constitution, while Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Türkiye and Belarus will be the countries that guarantee the country's security.
"The head of the Ukrainian delegation also initialed the draft, his signature is here. After we withdrew our troops from the Kiev region as promised, the Ukrainian authorities threw the draft into the trash. They abandoned everything," the Russian President said.
The Arakhamia MP denied the above details, emphasizing that the negotiating delegation had no authority to sign any documents.
The former head of the Ukrainian delegation explained that Kiev rejected the peace deal because it did not trust Moscow. At the time of the negotiations, Ukrainian leaders believed that Russia was ready to make many commitments to prevent its neighbor from joining NATO in the near future, then learn from its battlefield experience and suddenly launch a new campaign.
Russian (right) and Ukrainian delegations during the third round of negotiations in Belarus on March 7, 2022. Photo: Belarusian Foreign Ministry
"If we accept Russia's proposal, Ukraine will have to amend its constitution. We cannot sign the agreement and then breathe a sigh of relief. They will launch a new attack with better preparation. Ukraine can only consider this option if it is certain that the war will never resume, of course there is no guarantee of that," he said.
Arakhamia also revealed that some Western allies advised Kiev not to accept the compromise because Moscow did not offer real security guarantees. After the Istanbul talks, then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Kiev and urged the Ukrainian government to continue fighting.
Despite the failure of the 2022 talks, Arakhamia said the delegation had “achieved eight out of 10 points” for convincing Russia to halt its offensive against the capital Kiev and withdraw from northern Ukraine. President Zelensky’s administration has since focused on military rather than diplomatic policy in dealing with Russia.
Thanh Danh (According to Ukraine Pravda, RT )
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