The head of the Swiss Foreign Ministry, Ignazio Cassis, said that there are several secret plans for resolving the Ukrainian conflict. In total, according to him, about ten peace formulas have been developed. In the West, the Zelenskyy formula is considered the main one; Russia is categorically against it. Moscow has its own proposals, including recognition of new Russian territories and non-aligned status for Ukraine.
There are about ten points for resolving the conflict in Ukraine, while some of the plans are classified, Swiss Minister Ignazio Cassis told reporters in New York, RIA Novosti reports.
“There are about ten peace plans in total… Six or seven plans are public and others are still secret,” he said.
Cassis added that the focus of the West remains the ten-point peace formula of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Switzerland will try to hold an international meeting on Ukraine “by the summer,” the minister added, speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York. Bern agreed to this at Zelenskyy’s request in January. At the same time, Kiev asked for a global summit based on a peace formula, and initially, Switzerland promised just such a format. Now Cassis announced simply a “high-level conference.”
“We must find a realistic path to peace in Ukraine. We all know that a major peace summit will require several steps,” the Swiss minister said.
The goal of the future Swiss conference is to enable the parties to “explore all ideas, analyze them, and find common denominators in order to reach peace step by step.” Cassis emphasized that the United States is interested in participating. At the same time, according to him, Switzerland is interested in the participation of the BRICS countries, because a conference of only Western states “would not arouse much interest.”
“I would like to take this opportunity to invite all countries… to work together towards a common goal… We will only hold this conference if we have a broad approach,” the diplomat promised.
Peace negotiations with Russia according to any plan will be controlled by the West, and not Ukraine itself, said Alexey Chepa, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs. He added that he did not know about the secret formulas of the world.
“I don’t know about any secret plans, because they were not disclosed… Repeated proposals, for example, from China or some other countries were not accepted by the Ukrainian side. Therefore, I don’t know what the Swiss could come up with. In any case, other countries and other leaders are responsible for all these peace negotiations, not Zelenskyy,” Chepa said.
Basic peace plans for Ukraine
The EU considers Kyiv’s approach to be the main one. “There is only one peace plan for Ukraine – the Zelenskyy’s plan,” emphasized EU Foreign Affairs Representative Josep Borrell in the spring of 2023.
The Ukrainian leader’s formula includes the complete withdrawal of Russian troops and the release of all captured and deported Ukrainians. At the same time, Kiev is strongly opposed to fixing the current front line and insists on returning Ukraine’s borders to the state of 1991 (among other things, this implies the return of Crimea to Ukraine).
“We do not want to repeat the Minsk agreements on another part of our territory; we do not believe in newly frozen conflicts. We don’t believe in it and I don’t trust him [Russian President Vladimir Putin],” Zelenskyy said the day before in an interview with Fox News.
The Ukrainian peace formula also includes broad definitions, such as “countering ecocide” (destruction of flora and fauna) or “returning justice.” On February 23, Zelenskyy clarified that Kyiv will be ready to sit down at the negotiating table with Russia when it “prepares” and draws up “a document based on its [Zelenskyy’s] peace formula” backed by global support.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba believes that an important step towards a settlement is precisely the convening of a summit based on the peace formula.
“Russia cannot ignore the voice of the world majority if we all take a principled stance and act together,” he explained at the last UN General Assembly.
China has proposed its own formula for peace. Some of them coincided with the Ukrainian position. For example, Beijing has emphasized the importance of nuclear safety and called for the safety of nuclear power plants in the conflict zone. At the same time, China called for an end to “unilateral sanctions” that “only create new problems.” Beijing also insists on abandoning the Cold War mentality and “attempts by all parties to pursue their own security at the expense of the security of others.”
The West was skeptical about China’s ideas. Borrell called his plan “simply a set of good wishes,” and the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, urged not to forget that Beijing initially “took Moscow’s side.” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has openly expressed the view that China cannot be trusted.
The Russian Federation Council, in turn, noted that Moscow has its own formula for peace. It lies in achieving the goals set by Putin – “demilitarization and denazification” of Ukraine.
“These are the objectives of the operation, they have not changed. And what Mr. Zelenskyy is proposing is not only unrealistic, it will never be feasible as long as Russia exists,” said First Deputy Chairman of the Council Committee on International Affairs Vladimir Dzhabarov.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov added on February 21 that the “neutral, non-aligned and nuclear-free status” of Ukraine should be secured. Kyiv must also “respect the rights and freedoms of citizens” and recognize “new territorial realities.”
