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Straits Times
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Kremlin focuses on draft 2022 deal for proposed peace talks
A general view shows the Kremlin on the bank of the Moskva River on the day of a rehearsal for a military parade, which marks the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in central Moscow, Russia, May 7, 2025. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposed peace talks with Ukraine will take into account an abandoned 2022 draft deal between the two countries and the reality of Russia's control over almost a fifth of Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Sunday. Putin on Sunday proposed direct talks with Ukraine aimed at bringing a durable peace to end the war, an initiative welcomed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who said Kyiv was willing to talk but that Moscow must first agree to an immediate ceasefire. Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters after Putin's early-morning statement that the proposed talks would take into account both the draft abandoned in 2022 and the current situation on the ground. Days after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia and Ukraine began talks in Belarus that later moved to Istanbul. A draft agreed there setting out a framework for a possible settlement became known as the "Istanbul Communique". The talks broke off in May, but Russian officials have long argued that a settlement can be reached along the lines of the Istanbul Communique. Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy, has also referred to the 2022 draft as a possible guide to future peace. Under the draft, a copy of which Reuters has reviewed, Ukraine would agree to permanent neutrality in return for international security guarantees from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, and other nations including Belarus, Canada, Germany, Israel, Poland, and Turkey. Ukraine essentially agreed provisionally to non-nuclear neutrality and not being a member of the NATO military alliance in return for a security guarantee which, if Russia invaded, would oblige the United States and its allies to fight Russia directly. The question of territory in the 2022 draft was secondary to the security guarantee - seen by diplomats on both sides as by far the biggest hurdle to peace. Ukraine, after being invaded, wanted its security to be guaranteed but the United States and its allies were wary of locking themselves into a future war with Russia. Under the 2022 draft, Ukraine's path towards possible European Union membership would be facilitated and Russia wanted limits on Ukraine's armed forces, and the repeal of laws that Moscow considers discriminatory against Russian speakers, according to Reuters reporting. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Russia and Ukraine accuse one another of ceasefire violations
Russian soldiers, who were involved in the country's military campaign in Ukraine, march in columns during a parade on Victory Day, marking the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Red Square in central Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2025. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov Russia and Ukraine accuse one another of ceasefire violations MOSCOW - Ukrainian troops have made further attempts to breach the Russian border in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Friday as President Vladimir Putin hosted world leaders at a major military parade in Moscow. The Defence Ministry said the attacks occurred during a three-day ceasefire running from May 8-10 that Russia has unilaterally declared to mark the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two. Ukraine has called the ceasefire a "farce" and on Friday documented scores of armed clashes. It noted in particular, northeastern Sumy region, site of some of the heaviest Russian assaults in recent weeks, saying there had been no letup during the Kremlin-inspired ceasefire. "There has been no 'ceasefire' in Sumy region on the 8th or 9th of May. Over the two days Russia has killed three civilians,the region's military administration said on Telegram. Ukraine's military, in its account late on Friday of battlefield operations, said 162 armed clashes had been recorded over the past 24 hours, with the Kremlin ceasefire in effect, along with 22 air strikes and 956 drone attacks. It noted heavy fighting near Pokrovsk, a logistics hub in eastern Ukraine targeted by Moscow's troops for months. Russian forces had attempted to break through Ukrainian lines 51 times. The Russian Defence Ministry account said it had registered four attempts by Ukrainian forces to smash through the border into the Kursk and Belgorod regions in the past week. In eastern Ukraine, Kyiv's troops had attacked Russian forces 15 times during the ceasefire, the ministry said. Ukraine has said Russia had repeatedly breached its own truce this week. The governor of the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region said on Friday that Russia hit eight Ukrainian frontline villages 220 times since the ceasefire went into effect. In Russia's Belgorod border region, the local governor said a Ukrainian drone had attacked a government building on Friday. In Kursk, Ukrainian troops launched a major incursion last August and held onto a chunk of Russian territory for many months as Moscow's forces battled to eject them with help from North Korean soldiers. Some fighting has continued, even after Putin last month declared "victory" in Kursk. Ukraine said its troops had repelled 19 attacks in the region. Rybar, a pro-Russian war blogger, said there was "high-intensity fighting" between Russian and Ukrainian troops near Tetkino, a village in the region. Rybar and other bloggers said Ukrainian attacks on multiple villages in the neighbouring Belgorod region were continuing on Friday. Reuters could not independently verify statements by war bloggers or battlefield reports from either side. Ukraine and Russia both accused the other of repeatedly violating a previous 30-hour Easter ceasefire declared by Putin. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Putin and Xi to mark WW2 victory amid war in Ukraine
Russian armoured infantry carriers, including fighting vehicles BMP-1AM Basurmanin, drive along a road on the day of a rehearsal for a military parade, which marks the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in central Moscow, Russia, May 7, 2025. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov MOSCOW - Russia marks on Friday the 80th anniversary of the Soviet and allied victory over Nazi Germany, though there are fears that Ukraine may seek to disrupt the most hallowed celebration in the Russian calendar. Here is some information on who is expected to attend the celebrations, security arrangements and other details. WHO IS GOING? Twenty-nine leaders, including China's President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, are expected to attend, the Kremlin said. "Despite the hostile attitude towards Russia from a number of Western countries, we are very successfully holding a very large-scale event," said Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin's top foreign policy adviser. The Kremlin's list of expected attendees includes the leaders of the former Soviet republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Also expected are the leaders of Bosnia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, China, Congo, Cuba, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea–Bissau, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Palestinian Territories, Serbia, Slovakia, Venezuela, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. The leaders of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two rebel regions considered by most of the world to be part of Georgia, are also expected. Western leaders from key allied victors in World War Two such as British Prime Keir Starmer will not attend, though some U.S. veterans will join the parade. Russian state broadcaster 'Zvezda' said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio might attend but the Kremlin said it had no information on his plans. Ukraine has invited senior EU leaders and officials to Kyiv. WHAT HAPPENS AT THE CELEBRATION? At the parade on Red Square, Russian soldiers goose-step to World War Two marching songs, roar to their commanders and drive military hardware such as intercontinental ballistic missiles and tanks past Lenin's Mausoleum. Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech, usually surrounded by veterans. Russia's defence minister inspects the thousands of troops who march past, while fighter jets, trailing smoke in the white, blue and red of the Russian tricolour, roar overhead. WILL IT BE SAFE? After three days of major Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow, there are fears that the parade could be disrupted, though the Kremlin has said the military is doing everything it can to ensure maximum security. Russia has developed myriad electronic "umbrellas" over Moscow and key installations, with additional advanced internal layers over strategic buildings, and a complex web of air defences to shoot down drones before they reach the Kremlin in the heart of the capital. The Kremlin brands Ukraine's attacks as acts of terrorism. Ukraine says it is simply fighting back after three years of deadly Russian attacks. Security is extremely tight in Moscow. The Kremlin said there would be disruption to mobile phone signals while even some sports clubs in the centre have cut back opening hours and warned clients that there will be searches. Putin has proposed a 72-hour ceasefire that will run on May 8, May 9 and May 10. The Kremlin has said it will abide by the ceasefire but will respond if Ukraine attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called the proposed ceasefire pointless, and instead suggested an unconditional ceasefire over at least 30 days in line with a U.S. proposal launched in March. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR RUSSIA - AND CHINA? The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in World War Two, including many millions in Ukraine, but pushed Nazi forces back to Berlin, where Adolf Hitler committed suicide and the red Soviet Victory Banner was raised over the Reichstag in May 1945. For many Russians - and for many other peoples of the former Soviet Union - May 9 is the most sacred date in the calendar, and Putin, bristling at what he says are attempts by the West to belittle the Soviet victory, has sought to use memories of World War Two to unite Russian society. Chinese Communist Party historians say China's casualties in the 1937-1945 Second Sino-Japanese War were 35 million. The Japanese occupation caused the displacement of as many as 100 million Chinese people and significant economic hardship, as well as the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, during which an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 victims were killed. WHY IS IT ON MAY 9? Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender came into force at 11:01 p.m. on May 8, 1945, marked as "Victory in Europe Day" by Britain, the United States and France. In Moscow it was already May 9, which became the Soviet Union's "Victory Day" in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. HAS IT ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY IN RUSSIA? After victory, Soviet leader Josef Stalin decreed a holiday, and the first victory parade on Red Square, featuring captured German insignia, was held on June 24, 1945. May 9 was a normal working day from 1947 until 1965, when then-Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev ordered a 20th anniversary parade on Red Square, featuring veterans and historical weaponry. Others were held in 1985, 1990 and 1995. The occasion for showing off modern Soviet military hardware was parades held on Red Square on Nov. 7 each year before the assembled Communist Party Politburo to mark the anniversary of Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. Since 2008, Victory Day has become an occasion not only to honour the sacrifices of a previous generation, which are seared into older Russians' folk memory, but also to burnish an image of post-Communist Russia restored to its former greatness. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
