Russia-Ukraine peace plan/ Scholz: The hypothesis is that Kiev will accept territorial concessions

2024-09-09 10:48:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Russia-Ukraine peace plan/ Scholz: The hypothesis is that Kiev will accept

German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that he has a plan to do what no one managed in two years of war: to go down in history as "Chancellor of Peace".

Overwhelmed by devastating electoral results in Thuringia and Saxony and followed by increasingly pressing rumors that a possible defeat on September 22 in Brandenburg could force him to take a step back, the chancellor has decided to play the Ukraine to get out of the "corner".

The hypothesis of territorial exchanges

The social democratic leader is already working together with some SPD loyalists "on a kind of 'Minsk 3', including the hypothesis of giving parts of Ukrainian territory to Moscow", reveals an authoritative parliamentary source.

And yesterday, not surprisingly, the chancellor used the microphones of the public broadcaster "ARD" to announce that "the time has come to discuss how to speed up, get out of a war situation and achieve peace".

Scholz said during the "traditional summer interview" that he aims for a peace conference for Ukraine with the participation of Vladimir Putin. "However, there will be another peace conference", the social democratic leader underlined, while the reference is to the June summit in Switzerland. where 90 countries participated, but neither Russia nor China. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said then that peace could be discussed "tomorrow" with Putin if Moscow withdrew its troops from Ukraine.

Involvement of the Kremlin

But Zelensky had always been reluctant to involve the Kremlin; his idea was to be able to draw Beijing to the table to develop a plan that would only be presented to Putin at the end of a series of international conferences, when he would have his back covered by broad support international.

Yesterday Scholz clarified that he and the Ukrainian president would instead "agree" on Putin's participation. This is something new in diplomatic developments.

The chancellor is working with two exponents of the left party, Rolf Muetzenich and Ralf Stegner, for a peace plan, a "Minsk 3". The first two were painstakingly negotiated by Angela Merkel and Putin. Which had always disappointed him.

Internal political reasons

The source clarifies that in the same direction as Scholz is also pushing a part of the CDU, namely the Merkelian wing and the former candidate for chancellor Armin Laschet.

"The chancellor wants to bend Ukraine at all costs," the source notes.

In short, just as elections in North Rhine-Westphalia sadly decided Greece's fate in 2010 — Merkel delayed the European bailout by months and made it three times more expensive — those in Brandenburg could mark Ukraine's.

To force the parties to find the agreement and therefore the missing peace./ Taken from "La Repubblica"