The German publication WELT revealed a treaty that could have ended the war in Ukraine

German media Welt has revealed a treaty that could have ended the conflict in Ukraine as early as spring 2022.

A peaceful resolution was outlined in a draft treaty, which both warring sides agreed upon by April 15, 2022. Only a few points remained open for discussion. These were supposed to be addressed in person by Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky at a summit, which never took place.

After Ukraine started achieving greater success on the battlefield, Russia backed away from its maximalist demands, and the parties began developing a draft agreement. According to this document, Ukraine pledged to:

• Maintain “permanent neutrality,” i.e., refrain from joining military alliances, including NATO.
• Renounce the production and acquisition of nuclear weapons, refuse the entry of foreign troops into the country, and not allow weapons.
• Not provide its infrastructure, including airfields and seaports, to other countries.
• Refrain from conducting military exercises with foreign participation and from participating in any military conflicts.

The Kremlin’s proposals were as follows:

• No longer attack Ukraine.
• In the event of an attack on Ukraine, the guarantor countries would be obliged to support Ukraine within 3 days.
• Russia did not object to security guarantees for Ukraine from other countries; this point resembled NATO’s Article 5.
• Occupied parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions would partially remain under Russian control. Crimea and the port of Sevastopol were excluded from security guarantees, effectively meaning the transfer of control over the peninsula to Russia.

Russia also wanted to include Belarus in the treaty, while Ukraine wanted Turkey.

During the negotiations, Russia expressed readiness to withdraw troops from Ukraine, but not from Crimea and part of Donbas. The heads of states were supposed to discuss the details of troop withdrawal directly. Two Ukrainian negotiators confirmed this in a comment to WELT.

The question of the future size of the Ukrainian armed forces also remained unresolved.