Ukraine announces 5 scenarios for a ceasefire

Intense debates in the international arena regarding a diplomatic end to the military conflict in Ukraine have entered a new phase. Georgy Tikhy, the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, announced that the country is ready to work on 5 different options for a ceasefire at once and that corresponding diplomatic solutions have been developed. According to him, the next steps now depend on official Moscow.

However, the Russian side immediately reacted to these proposals, sharply rejecting the proposal to halt military operations solely for the sake of starting negotiations.

5 main truce formats that Kyiv is ready for

According to the representative of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, official Kyiv is open to considering several global and regional initiatives:

• 1. Complete and unconditional truce: A complete cessation of fire along the entire front line (though this requires direct consent from Russia);

• 2 and 3. Two options for security in the Black Sea: These two directions are being developed by Turkey and Egypt with the participation of Ukraine;

• 4. India's comprehensive peace initiative: A plan aimed at ensuring food security in the Black Sea and completely halting missile and drone strikes on the energy infrastructure of both parties;

• 5. Energy truce with US participation: A format discussed during recent negotiations between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump, aimed at protecting power grids and vital systems from mutual strikes.

Rejection from Sergey Lavrov: "We will not let them deceive us"

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking at the "Primakov Readings" international scientific and expert forum, firmly emphasized that Moscow will not agree to the formula promoted by Kyiv: "first cease fire, then negotiate":

• Lessons of Istanbul: "They are telling us: 'Let's stop firing along the contact line, and then we will hold negotiations.' No, we have done this before — in Istanbul, we agreed, initialed, stopped firing as a gesture of goodwill, and even withdrew troops from around Kyiv", Lavrov said;

• "We are on special alert": The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Moscow is ready for negotiations, but this time it will not allow itself to be deceived: "Sometimes we might be naive, perhaps they think they can mislead us again due to our naivety, but we are on special alert now".

The 5 scenarios proposed by Kyiv and Moscow's firm stance show that in the near future, mistrust between the parties remains the decisive obstacle to the issue of halting military operations.