Ukraine has drawn up a series of red lines as the US tries to hammer out a ceasefire deal with Russia, The Independent understands.
After three years of war, the world is waiting to see if the 30-day plan accepted by Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday will find common ground with Vladimir Putin.
High-level Ukrainian sources briefed on the ongoing talks are warning there is little trust that Russia will accept a reasonable deal, adding: “We expect another trick.”
Despite Donald Trump describing “good and productive” talks with Russia on Friday, Putin has been accused of using delaying tactics by raising “nuances” and further questions as well as suggesting that Ukraine would not be permitted to rearm, mobilise or receive Western military aid during the truce.
But Ukraine is understood to be clear on several key areas of negotiation if the war is to stop. They include:
- No further territory to be ceded, despite Putin’s desire to take four Ukrainian regions partially occupied by the Russian military since 2014
- The return of thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia
- The return of thousands of civilians illegally held by Russia, who are not considered Prisoners of War and so would not be included in PoW exchanges
- A need for international security guarantees, should Putin infringe any ceasefire deal
Ukrainian officials are concerned that Russia’s stalling is nothing more than a “game from their side”.
“We are really willing to make peace, but we need a long-lasting peace, not a short ceasefire. We do not want our children fighting this battle,” said the senior source, who cannot be named as they are not permitted to speak to the media.
“Putin is playing games. We have made a strong move – now it is his turn.
“We have proved we are reasonable; we are willing to have peace – if Russia doesn’t agree, the whole world will see they are liars.”
One key point of contention is the return of tens of thousands of children, whom Ukraine says have been abducted to Russia as part of an effort to erase the country’s identity.
Kyiv claims that it knows of at least 20,000 children that have been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without the consent of family or guardians since the war began, calling the abductions a war crime that meets the UN treaty definition of genocide.
Another issue is Putin’s demands that in any deal, Ukraine cede the entirety of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk which have been partially occupied by Russian military since 2014.
In the months after the full-scale 2022 invasion, Moscow “annexed” these regions by holding referendums in the areas they occupied, which were widely dismissed by the international community as illegal and coerced.
The US secretary of state Marco Rubio said there had been talk of territorial concessions in the negotiations with Ukraine this week and has previously said Kyiv must expect to give up land.
Ukrainian officials told The Independent they had come to terms with the current battle lines freezing, with Russia holding on to some territory for now for a ceasefire to work, but ceding any additional territory would be a red line.
“It is not reasonable to demand that, for example, Zaporizhzhia or Kherson be fully handed over – that sounds like a f*** off to us.”
They said fate of these territories held by Russia since the invasion in February 2022 was not sealed.
“We will do our best to retake it with diplomacy.”
At his news conference on Thursday, Putin said Russia supported the idea of a ceasefire, but with the caveat that it should lead to long-term peace and eliminate the root causes of the conflict.
He also suggested there were a number of “nuances”, including in Kursk, where a truce would be “very good” for the Ukrainian side.
The Kremlin later said Putin was “cautiously optimistic” after holding late-night talks in Moscow with Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy, on the US proposal.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Mr Zelensky, echoed the distrust of Putin, saying his words looked like a “direct desire to continue the war”.
He said it effectively forced Ukraine to “give up its weapons, army, mobilisation, and supplies of equipment, and simply silently watch as [Russians] continue to ‘peacefully’ fire along the entire front line…”
President Zelensky said on Friday that while he saw a good chance to end the war with Russia, he feared Putin would try to drag the ceasefire proposal into endless discussions. He urged the US and Ukraine’s other allies to apply pressure on Russia.
On Friday, the G7 nations, including the UK, warned Moscow to follow Kyiv in agreeing to the US-proposed 30-day ceasefire or face further sanctions, according to a draft statement.
Mr Trump again pressed Russia to sign and complete “a ceasefire and final agreement”, saying on his private social media platform on Friday that he would extract the U.S. from what he called a “real ‘mess’ with Russia”.
In Ukraine, there are deep concerns about the impact of a ceasefire and freezing of lines on the fate of tens of thousands of Ukrainian children, who they say have either been forcibly taken to Russia or swallowed up into occupied territories during the full-scale invasion.
One of the key demands for the deal is that these children be retrieved and that the policies of “Russification” – including forced passport adoption and re-education camps – be stopped.
The UK Ministry of Defence said this week that Russia has issued 3.5 million passports to Ukrainians living in illegally Russian-occupied territory, leaving them at risk of conscription into its army.
“While Ukraine fights for survival, Russia is building its army not just with soldiers, but with stolen children,” said Mykola Kuleba from Save Ukraine, an organisation that has managed to locate and retrieve over 600 children since the start of the full-scale invasion, including three teenagers in the last week.
“Over the past 11 years, 1.6 million Ukrainian children have been trapped in Russian-occupied territories. Many have been forcibly taken to Russia. They are indoctrinated in new schools. Their Ukrainian identity is erased, and their minds are filled with hatred for us, the West, the US, and its allies.”
Ukrainian civil society is also concerned about Ukrainian PoWs and civilians held in Russian detention centres.
The Centre for Civil Liberties, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 for its work, said since the full-scale invasion they know of at least 8,000 civilians in 70 different Russian detention centres in occupied territories and Russia itself.
“The release of civilians should be without conditions as part of the agreement,” said Vyacheslav Likhachev, from the centre, adding that the truce was one of the only chances to retrieve people.
“For more than three years, nothing has been really effective in making Russia release civilians or act in line with international humanitarian law. No sanctions should be lifted without the release of civilians.”