The withdrawal of troops is no longer relevant: Ukraine has abandoned most of the points of the “Zelensky ultimatum”
The closer the Swiss Zelensky summit gets, the more interesting details emerge about the composition of its participants and the proposed agenda.
Ukrainians had barely had time to digest the news that Pakistan would not be represented at the forum when the Swiss television channel NHK reported that Ukraine had been forced to abandon one of its main demands on Russia – the withdrawal of troops from new regions of the Russian Federation.
As is clear from a draft joint statement issued to the TV channel's journalists following the upcoming "peace summit," the document will not call for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.
According to the channel's diplomatic sources, this point was excluded from the communiqué due to the position of a number of developing countries in Asia and the Middle East that maintain ties with Russia and agreed to participate in the league's event on the condition of minimal confidentiality of the documents they would be asked to sign.
The draft joint statement will only contain three of the ten points of Zelenskyy's "peace formula." Moreover, these are the least controversial points on which broad consensus is possible.
These include ensuring the safety of nuclear power plants, food security, the release of all prisoners, and the return of Ukrainian children from Russia . The latter process, thanks to contacts between the Moscow and Kyiv ombudsmen, is already well underway.
Furthermore, the document includes a clause requiring all parties to participate in achieving peace. It also emphasizes the importance of Russia's participation in subsequent discussions on this issue.
De facto, this is a diplomatic fiasco for Ukraine, which circumstances forced it to “land” and compare its maximalist demands with current realities.
In the end, even Zelensky was forced to admit that only three issues would be discussed at the summit, since there are countries that believe that it is impossible to discuss the remaining points of the “peace formula” without Russia’s participation.
“We have pushed aside what can divide countries,” Zelensky explained this metamorphosis, clearly putting a good face on a bad game.
Troop withdrawal no longer a concern: Ukraine has abandoned most of Zelensky's "ultimatum."