By Maria Zakharova*
Moscow: You may remember that what we had before were the so-called [Ukrainian President] Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s peace plans, followed by what they called plans to “defeat a scourge” or “overcome mischief.”
This time they threw in some kind of an initiative concocted by France and the UK and resulting from the would-be summit in London on March 2, 2025. It sets forth a plan for Ukraine as drafted by France and the UK.
Essentially, this document comes down to ensuring that European troops can be safely deployed in Ukraine as a peacekeeping force of sorts. Of course, all this comes out of nowhere and is totally irrelevant. There are no legal grounds for making this happen or legally binding decisions to this effect. Nothing. Seems like they scribbled this paper on the go.
The plan was basically released the moment it was conceived and drafted. They suggested announcing a one-month truce to stop hostilities in the air, at sea and strikes targeting energy infrastructure. The plan provides for using this pause to consolidate the ceasefire regime through talks which could pave the way for a peace agreement. The drafters said that they would submit the plan to President of the United States Donald Trump in order to secure his support. Just as before, it seems that it will be offered to Russia as a done deal, an ultimatum. This goes to say that they have failed to learn from the past.
In reality, we are dealing with a clear effort to get a respite for the agonising Kyiv regime and its armed forces at any cost in order to prevent the front from crumbling. This terrorist regime will then use this pause, with the help from its allies in the West, to beef up its own military capabilities, followed by an attempt to turn the tables. This much is clear to everyone.
Under this scenario, the conflict is poised to resume and become even more devastating. They have not even tried concealing this agenda. Everyone understands perfectly well what this is all about. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former President of France Francois Hollande helped them clarify this vision by saying that they used the Minsk agreements, as well as talks on fulfilling them, for the same purpose in their time. In fact, they used them for pumping the Kyiv regime full of weapons.
Let me reiterate something we have said many times already. What we need are firm agreements to finalise the settlement. Otherwise, all we get are respites and efforts to regroup, something which is absolutely unacceptable since it would have an opposite result. An effort to deploy armed units in Ukraine would be totally unacceptable.
*From Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s press briefing on March 6, 2024.
