Maasikas: Ukraine peace plan does not include immediately attainable goals
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed a 10-point peace plan at the EU-Ukraine summit, including nuclear safety and reparations, the EU's representative in Ukraine Matti Maasikas, an Estonian diplomat, said.
At last week's summit in Kyiv, Zelenskyy proposed a plan, which had previously been presented in bare bones but is now a 10-point concrete action plan, and the European Union's representation agreed to it, Maasikas said.
"It consists of 10 points. It is not a step-by-step guide to achieving peace, but rather a list of issues that must be addressed in order to achieve peace. Aside from the withdrawal of Russian troops and actual peace talks, there are issues such as nuclear and food security, humanitarian issues, future reparations, and, of course, the consequences for war criminals."
He went on to say that it is not a plan that will be implemented one step at a time, but rather a list of issues and problems that must be addressed. "And the European Union fully agrees. /.../ The European Union has pledged its support for President Zelenskyy's proposed peace plan."
He also said that the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity, including Crimea, is firmly included in the peace plan.
Maasikas said the EU delegation sent a strong message to Ukraine that the EU is Ukraine's future. The Ukrainian side said that they hope to begin accession negotiations by the end of this year.
"All of the candidate countries want more from the European Union than the EU is willing to give at the time, and they want to move quickly toward membership. This is completely normal. Ukraine's leaders are well aware that they do not have much time. There is a lot of sympathy and attention right now for Ukraine, and the Ukrainian leadership is making excellent use of it. Prior to February 24, last year, no one in the European Union was ready to even begin a discussion about giving Ukraine the prospect of joining the European Union, let alone candidate status," Maasikas said.
Ukraine, he said, has accomplished in a matter of weeks what other candidate countries take a year to accomplish.
"Ukraine is working hard to meet the European Union's seven recommendations. EU leaders in Kyiv also acknowledged progress toward meeting them. Some tasks remain to be done," Maasikas said.
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Editor: Kristina Kersa