Russia’s Putin rejected aide's peace deal proposal before Ukraine war - report
'Everything was canceled. Putin simply changed the plan as he went along'
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin rejected a provisional deal with Kyiv that his chief envoy on Ukraine Dmitry Kozak proposed, and instead insisted on launching the military operation, sources said Wednesday.
The deal in question would have satisfied Moscow’s demand for Ukraine to stay out of NATO, Reuters learned from three unnamed officials close to the Russian leadership.
Kozak, who was born in a village in central Ukraine, suggested that the agreement would stop Moscow from starting a full-scale invasion.
Putin and his administration repeatedly said that the expansion of NATO and Ukraine potentially joining the alliance presented an “existential threat” to Russia and named it as one of the key reasons for the start of the war in Ukraine.
According to sources, Putin initially supported Kozak’s efforts in negotiating the deal with Kyiv, but later said he did not do enough and demanded that the agreement also included acknowledging the annexed territories of Ukraine.
Kozak allegedly tried to finalize the deal right after the start of the invasion on February 24, recommending that Putin sign it, but the president changed his mind.
“After February 24, Kozak was given carte blanche: they gave him the green light; he got the deal. He brought it back and they told him to clear it off. Everything was canceled. Putin simply changed the plan as he went along,” one of the sources was quoted as saying.
Another source argued that Kozak presented the deal to Putin shortly before the invasion. A Kremlin spokesperson denied the talks were even held, saying “no such thing ever happened.”
Ukraine’s Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, did not confirm the deal was reached, but told Reuters that Moscow used the negotiations to distract Kyiv from the upcoming attack.
Zelensky himself said in recent weeks there will be no peace talks with Moscow if Russia holds referendums on occupied territories or stages trials over the surrendered defenders of Mariupol, most of which are from the Azov regiment, which was officially designated a terrorist organization in Russia.
Ukraine launched a successful counter-offensive in late August, reclaiming thousands of miles of its territory from the Russian army in the east of the country. The referendums in question were postponed by pro-Russian separatist forces due to the "security situation."