ISW: Ukraine’s peace plan demands justified, while Russia’s against international law

The Institute for the Study of War points out that Ukraine's demands regarding the peace plan are justified, while the Russian Federation's demands violate international law.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reports this.

According to American researchers, Ukraine continues to demonstrate its willingness to negotiate with Russia on its own terms. Ukraine's demands for a peaceful settlement are consistent with international law, as opposed to Russia's reluctance to participate in negotiations that end in nothing but a demand for Ukraine's full surrender.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on July 15 that Ukrainian plans for the second peace summit should be ready by November 2024 and reiterated that a Russian representative should attend.

Zelensky noted that as part of the preparations for the Peace Summit, Ukraine will hold a meeting in Qatar on energy security at the end of July or early August 2024, a meeting on freedom of navigation in Türkiye in August 2024, and a meeting on the exchange of prisoners of war and the repatriation of deported Ukrainian children in Canada in September 2024 – three issues that were focused on in the communique of the first Ukraine-initiated Global Peace Summit in Switzerland in June 2024.

However, experts say recent statements from the Kremlin continue to show that Russia remains adamant about talks with Ukraine. Kremlin officials have stated directly that Russia will not participate in the second peace summit because its terms are unacceptable given Russian demands.

Ukrainian officials emphasized that the first peace summit's goal was to promote peace based on international law, including laws to which the Russian Federation is a party.

Ukraine's demands for the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine are stipulated by international law, and therefore, they are justified. However, Russia's demands for the complete surrender of Ukraine and the continuation of Russian occupation of Ukrainian land are and will be a violation of international law.

ISW also continues to believe that Putin's demands for the surrender of Ukraine will allow Russian forces and occupation administrations to continue their large-scale and targeted campaigns of ethnic cleansing in occupied Ukraine and that complete restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity is necessary to liberate Ukrainian people from Russian occupation.

"Acceptance of anything other than Ukraine liberating its people is an indirect approval of Russia's illegal occupation of more than five million Ukrainians," the analysts note.

ISW Key Findings as of July 15:

• A recent Ukrainian poll indicates that Ukrainians widely reject Russia's demands for total Ukrainian capitulation, emphasizing that the Kremlin's conditions for the end of the war are entirely unreasonable and widely unpopular within Ukraine.
• Ukraine continues to demonstrate its willingness to negotiate with Russia on Ukraine's own terms, and Ukraine's demands for a peace settlement are in accordance with international law — in direct contrast to Russia's unwillingness to engage in negotiations that end in anything short of full Ukrainian surrender.
• European Union (EU) officials continue to take steps to demonstrate the EU's non-alignment with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's political stances concerning the war in Ukraine.
• The Russian government proposed to significantly increase the number of conditions on which the Russian government can designate a person as a terrorist or extremist, likely as part of efforts to censor criticisms about Russia's war in Ukraine.
• Ukrainian forces conducted drone strikes against Russian energy infrastructure overnight from July 14 to 15 and reportedly also hit Russian military assets in occupied Crimea.
• A new Russian migrant assimilation program highlights the apparent struggle the Russian government is facing with reconciling aspects of its policy towards Central Asian migrants as the Russian state desires to present itself as welcoming and multicultural while also emphasizing the primacy of the Russian language and historical legacy.
• Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov is posturing himself and the North Caucasus as key to Russia's outreach to the Arab world.
• Ukrainian forces recently regained lost positions near Toretsk, and Russian troops recently advanced near Toretsk and Avdiivka.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized ongoing Russian efforts to integrate the metallurgy industry in occupied Ukraine into Russia's defense industrial base (DIB).