FLASH
Shkruar nga Marta Serafini
As Kiev's leader flies to Florida, obstacles remain, particularly over the fate of Europe's largest nuclear power plant and its borders...
"Peace, if you say it often enough, maybe it will come true." It was one of Mario Rigoni Stern's favorite phrases.
Since that return home from Russia through ice and mud, narrated in "Sergeant in the Snow", quickly passing 82 years, looking at the faces of Denis and Dmitry, two Ukrainian soldiers who remained stationed in Kostyantynivka for 140 consecutive days, filmed by the Ukrainian media as their families called them, one might think that, despite progress and science, peace remains a utopia.
For pessimists, the year ending is the worst for Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in 2022, and 2026 could be even worse. But in European diplomatic circles, while concerns remain high, some speak of significant diplomatic progress.
From the ice of the camp to the heat of Florida. As we await the new face-to-face meeting between Zelensky and Trump tomorrow at Mar-a-Lago, there are still many unresolved issues.
On Christmas Eve, the Ukrainian president unveiled a new draft plan. Of the 20 points, the most critical are points 12 and 14. One of the most complex issues concerns the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear facility in Europe.
Located in the occupied city of Enerhodar, the power plant produced about 20% of Ukraine’s electricity before Russia occupied it. The White House would like a power plant controlled by Ukraine, the United States and Russia, with shared economic benefits. However, Kiev fears that tripartite management would legitimize the Russian occupation.
Meanwhile, Moscow is pushing to exclude its Ukrainian counterpart. Moreover, before it can be put into operation, the power plant must first be made safe through maintenance work that can be time-consuming and expensive.
And it is unclear which party should be responsible for this.
Provision 14 of the Ukrainian plan addresses what Zelensky described as the most difficult issue: the future of territories in the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson provinces. Kiev's default position, which Zelensky calls "Option A," is to freeze the front.
Moscow, on the other hand, is demanding that Ukraine withdraw troops from areas of Donetsk Oblast that Russian forces have failed to capture. American negotiators are considering the creation of demilitarized zones or free economic zones, formats they believe could satisfy both sides.
But Kiev warns that any decision on borders will require parliamentary approval or even a referendum. A working group will determine troop redeployments and the parameters for each separate economic zone, but Kiev is making progress conditional on Russian withdrawal from occupied areas.
Zelensky has mentioned Enerkhodary as a possible experiment with a free, demilitarized zone placed under Ukrainian administration after the Russian withdrawal. The plan also stipulates that for the agreement to come into force, the redeployments must first be carried out in the Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Sumy and Kharkiv regions.
Zelensky also stressed that referendums remain the last option. According to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, Putin has expressed his readiness to release small areas of territory occupied by Russian forces in the Kharkiv and Zaporizhia regions.
Kiev, on the other hand, would be willing to withdraw its “heavy forces” from the areas of Donbas it still controls to create a “free economic zone” in the region if Moscow would do the same. But on Wednesday evening, during a closed-door meeting with the business elite, Putin reiterated his demand that Ukraine vacate all of Donetsk. These words bring everyone back to square one. Security guarantee
The fate of the territories is doubly tied for Kiev to security guarantees. Under Zelensky's plan, the United States, NATO, and European member states would provide Ukraine with military assistance equivalent to Article 5 in the event of a new Russian attack.
Thus, Ukraine would not have to formally renounce membership or change its constitution. Moscow, for its part, has announced its readiness to sign a mutual non-aggression pact with NATO countries.
But for Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, "it should be a full-fledged international legal act."
And the Ukrainian president's Christmas Eve remarks, in which he hoped for Putin's death (though without mentioning his name), raise "doubts about his ability to make appropriate decisions for a peaceful resolution of the conflict."
In other words, peace will still have to wait. /Adapted from Corriere /
Lini një Përgjigje