President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky presented in detail the 20 points of the peace plan developed by Kiev and Washington to achieve peace with Russia.
In a conversation with journalists on Tuesday, December 23, which was reported by Ukrainian media a day later, Zelensky reiterated that White House envoys had already conveyed the above plan to the Kremlin envoy. The next contacts between Washington and Moscow are expected to take place on Wednesday, December 24th.
NATO and territorial issues
Zelensky assured that the new version of the US plan to end the war with Russia does not require Ukraine to officially renounce its membership in NATO, which was a key demand from Moscow. “It will be NATO that will decide whether to accept Ukraine into its membership or not. And our decision has been made. We have given up changing the Ukrainian constitution and writing in it that the country will not join NATO,” Zelensky said.
In addition, the Ukrainian president said that the US and Ukrainian negotiating teams failed to reach agreement on long-term territorial issues. “We have not reached consensus with the American side on the territory of the Donetsk region and the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant,” he said. “We stand ready to meet at the leadership level with the United States to address sensitive issues,” he added. On the other hand, the President reiterated his willingness to reach a territorial compromise in Donbass, one of the outstanding points.
Referendum in Ukraine to approve the plan
If Russia accepts the new peace plan, it could either be put to a referendum, which could take place simultaneously with a presidential election, or submitted to the Ukrainian parliament for ratification.
“Ukraine will submit this agreement to Parliament for ratification (…) and/or hold a national referendum in ‘yes’ or ‘no’ format for approval. Ukraine may decide to hold elections simultaneously with the referendum,” he commented. He also reported that the security guarantees provided for in the plan could only come into force if the agreement is bindingly ratified or approved by referendum.
ms (afp/efe)
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