Latest news with #peaceproposal
Reuters
12 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Qatar presents draft peace proposal to Congo and M23 rebels, source says
DOHA, June 5 (Reuters) - Qatar has presented a draft peace proposal to Congo and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels after months of mediation in Doha, and the two sides will consult their leaders before resuming talks, a source briefed on the negotiations told Reuters on Thursday. Fighting in eastern Congo escalated this year as M23 staged an advance that saw it seize the region's two largest cities. African leaders along with Doha and Washington are trying to broker a peace deal that would put an end to a conflict with roots in the Rwandan genocide more than three decades ago. Qatar successfully brokered a surprise meeting in March between Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Both leaders called for a ceasefire after the meeting. In April Congo and M23 issued statements pledging to work towards peace, though sources in both camps expressed patience over the pace of the talks in Doha. "Negotiations between the AFC/M23 and the DRC government in Doha have entered a deeper phase, with both sides engaging on the core issues underlying the conflict," the source briefed on the negotiations told Reuters on Thursday. But it was unclear there had been major breakthroughs. Congo says Rwanda is supporting M23 by sending troops and arms. Rwanda has long denied helping M23, saying its forces are acting in self defence against Congo's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed around 1 million people, mostly ethnic Tutsis. The draft peace proposal is the result of more than two months of direct and indirect talks between M23 and Congo held in Doha and mediated by Qatar.
Russia Today
a day ago
- General
- Russia Today
Zelensky dismisses Russia's peace memorandum
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has refused to seriously consider Russia's latest peace proposal, dismissing it as an unacceptable 'ultimatum'. Russian and Ukrainian delegations exchanged their respective roadmaps for peace at their second meeting in a month, in Istanbul on Monday. In its proposal, Moscow proposed that Ukraine recognizes the loss of five of its former regions that joined Russia in public referendums, withdraws its forces from them, commit to neutrality, and limit its own military capabilities. Russia also floated a 'package proposal' for a ceasefire, in which Kiev would halt deploying its troops, suspend mobilisation, stop foreign weapons shipments, and hold a presidential election. Zelensky rejected the peace memorandum out of hand. 'This is an ultimatum, and it will not be taken seriously by the Ukrainian side… This memorandum is a misunderstanding,' he said on Wednesday. The Ukrainian leader claimed that any territorial concessions to Russia would contravene Ukraine's constitution. Russia's lead negotiator at the Istanbul talks, Vladimir Medinsky, defended the memorandum, describing it as an opportunity to end the conflict. 'This is not an ultimatum. It's a proposal that will truly allow for achieving real peace — or at least a ceasefire — and make a huge step towards achieving long-term peace,' he said. Zelensky also criticized the diplomatic process itself, saying, 'To continue diplomatic meetings in Istanbul at a level that decides nothing — it's meaningless.' Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, however, suggested that Zelensky dismissed the outcome of the talks because they were focused not on financial aid or weapons supplies, but on people. Zakharova was referring to Moscow and Kiev's agreement to carry the largest prisoner exchange to date, which is expected to take place this weekend and involved 1,200 people on each side.
Russia Today
3 days ago
- General
- Russia Today
Russian memorandum on settlement of Ukraine conflict (FULL TEXT)
The Russian delegation presented its peace proposal to the Ukrainian side during the talks in Istanbul on Monday. Among the main points, Moscow's memorandum calls on Kiev to withdraw its troops from the former Ukrainian territories that have joined Russia and confirm its neutral and non-nuclear as of June 1, 2025 Key Parameters for a Definitive Settlement Commencement of complete withdrawal of the AFU and other Ukrainian paramilitary formations from the territory of the Russian Federation, including the DPR, LPR, and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, and their pullback from the borders of the Russian Federation to a distance agreed upon by the Parties, in accordance with Provisions to be approved.
Al Jazeera
27-05-2025
- General
- Al Jazeera
Drone war, ground offensive continue despite new Russia-Ukraine peace push
Russia and Ukraine have launched a wave of drone attacks against each other overnight, even as Moscow claimed it was finalising a peace proposal to end the war. Ukrainian air force officials said on Tuesday that Russia deployed 60 drones across multiple regions through the night, injuring 10 people. Kyiv's air defences intercepted 43 of them – 35 were shot down while eight were diverted using electronic warfare systems. In Dnipropetrovsk, central Ukraine, Governor Serhiy Lysak reported damage to residential properties and an agricultural site after Russian drones led to fires during the night. In Kherson, a southern city frequently hit by Russian strikes, a drone attack on Tuesday morning wounded a 59-year-old man and six municipal workers, officials said. The barrage came days after Ukraine endured one of the heaviest aerial offensives of the war. On Sunday night alone, Ukraine's air force claimed Russia launched 355 drones, a record number. That escalation prompted United States President Donald Trump to declare that Vladimir Putin had 'gone absolutely CRAZY' and to threaten new sanctions. The Kremlin brushed off the remarks, accusing Trump of suffering from 'emotional overload'. Russia said on Tuesday that its huge aerial assaults in recent days were a 'response' to escalating Ukrainian drone attacks on its own civilians, accusing Kyiv of trying to 'disrupt' peace efforts. 'Kyiv, with the support of some European countries, has taken a series of provocative steps to thwart negotiations initiated by Russia,' the Russian Ministry of Defence said in a statement. The ministry said its forces had shot down 99 Ukrainian drones on Tuesday, including 56 over the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine. It claimed that from May 20 to 27, air defence units intercepted more than 2,300 Ukrainian drones – 1,465 of them outside active conflict zones. In a further setback for Kyiv, Russian troops have captured four villages in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, the local governor confirmed on Tuesday. Oleh Hryhorov said Novenke, Basivka, Veselivka and Zhuravka were now under Russian control, though civilians had already been evacuated. 'The enemy is continuing attempts to advance with the aim of setting up a so-called 'buffer zone',' he wrote on Facebook. Russia's Defence Ministry also claimed it had taken the nearby village of Bilovody, pointing to further advances near the border. Though Moscow's main offensive remains in Donetsk, its push into Sumy shows how Russian forces are stretching Ukraine's army thin across multiple fronts. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned again this week that new Russian offensives were likely in Sumy, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia. Russian troops have been attacking in small groups on motorcycles, backed by drones. Ukrainian forces say they're holding the line and targeting enemy positions with precision fire. Military blog DeepState reported over the weekend that Russia now holds about 62.6 sq km (24 square miles) in the region – the first time it has secured a strip of border villages there. Last month, a Russian missile killed 36 people in the city of Sumy. Amid new territorial gains and escalating violence, Russia has shifted blame for the lack of diplomatic progress onto European leaders. Putin met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday to discuss efforts to end the war in Ukraine, according to a source from Turkiye's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Fidan also met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday as part of his two-day trip to Moscow. During the meeting, Lavrov took aim at German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, suggesting his recent comments on Ukraine's use of Western weapons for strikes deep inside Russia reveal that the decision to greenlight such attacks was made long before it was made public. Lavrov said Merz's statement was telling – not only for what it implied about policy but for what it revealed about the current crop of Western leaders. 'This shows what sort of people have come to power in key European countries,' Lavrov said. Merz had earlier stated that weapons supplied to Kyiv by the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the US were no longer bound by range restrictions, clearing the path for deeper attacks into Russian territory. On Tuesday, while on an official visit to Finland, Merz said Western allies had lifted restrictions on the range of weapons sent to Ukraine. He warned the war could drag on, citing Russia's refusal to engage in meaningful talks. 'We may have to prepare for a longer duration,' he told reporters. Meanwhile, Moscow accused Ukraine and its European allies of deliberately undermining efforts to revive peace talks. 'Since 20 May, Ukraine has ramped up strikes on Russian territory using Western-supplied weapons, deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure,' it said. Direct talks between Russia and Ukraine resumed on May 16 – the first in more than three years – but failed to result in a ceasefire. Russia has since insisted it is working on a serious draft agreement to end hostilities. 'This is a serious draft, a draft of a serious document that demands careful checks and preparation,' Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, adding it had not yet been submitted. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the draft would lay out key terms for a political settlement and potential ceasefire, and would be presented to Kyiv once finalised. Moscow has accused Ukraine of escalating attacks in recent days to derail the negotiations. In response to media reports about possible new US sanctions, Peskov claimed Washington was trying to sabotage the diplomatic process.
The Independent
27-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Why Zelensky believes Russia is planning a major new offensive, not a peace proposal
Russia 's foreign ministry says it is drafting a peace proposal for Ukraine, but Kyiv believes Moscow is planning a major offensive. Volodymyr Zelensky claims Ukraine has obtained intelligence and open-source data indicating that Putin does not intend to end the war and is preparing new offensives. Analysts report increased Russian attacks in Ukraine 's eastern Donetsk region, with the fastest rate of advance this year. Analysts say Russia aims for decisive operational success this summer to influence peace negotiations, focusing on capturing territory in the Donbas region. Ukraine faces challenges, including disrupted supply lines, recruitment issues, and troop fatigue, while Russia recruits approximately 30,000 soldiers per month, according to Western intelligence estimates. 'Ample evidence' Russia preparing fresh offensive despite talk of ceasefire, claims Zelensky
