Welt: Ukraine withdrew from the negotiation process with Russia in 2022 due to Russia's new demands
Ukraine halted peace negotiations with Russia in 2022 after the latter introduced new demands. These included recognizing Russian as a second official language in Ukraine, lifting mutual sanctions, and ending litigation in international courts, Welt reports, citing sources. Until then, the parties had nearly reached an agreement on most of the treaty's provisions.
The German newspaper Welt claims to have a complete copy of the peace agreement proposed in Istanbul and has published one page detailing three clauses of the first article concerning Ukraine's commitment to "permanent neutrality" (non-entry into military alliances).
It's noted that at the time of the Istanbul meeting's inception, some of Russia's demands to Ukraine remained unmet. For example, the size of the Ukrainian army and the amount of military equipment were not defined. Russia wanted to limit the Ukrainian Armed Forces to 85,000 military personnel, while Ukraine agreed to a cap of 250,000. Furthermore, Russia demanded a reduction in the number of tanks to 342 and fighters to 102, whereas Ukraine insisted on having 800 tanks and 160 fighters.
In November 2023, David Arahamia, the leader of the "Servant of the People" faction in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament), told journalist Natalia Moseichuk in an interview that Russia had promised to end the war if Ukraine renounced its NATO aspirations and agreed to a neutral status. He observed that "everything else is cosmetic and political 'seasoning' about de-Nazification, the Russian-speaking population, and so forth."