According to "Bild", the Russian proposal for a "new security order in Europe" envisages the withdrawal of NATO forces from the Baltic states and Finland, which became a member of the Alliance in 2023, leaving the Alliance.
Moscow also allegedly demanded the takeover of the entire Donbas, including parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, which remain under Ukrainian control. The conditions also included Ukraine's neutral status and Kiev's resignation from plans to join NATO. The possibility of Ukraine's membership in the European Union would remain open.
The Russian plan was also to assume the demilitarization of the ports in Odessa and Mykolaiv. According to the newspaper, the goal would be to prevent Ukraine from using them as naval bases. The document was also supposed to contain provisions regarding freedom of navigation in the Black and Baltic Seas.
Demands regarding Moldova
Bild reported that Russian demands also include Moldova. Moscow was to propose transforming this country into a federal republic consisting of Moldova, autonomous Gagauzia and separatist Transnistria, which is actually under Russian influence.
If Moldova joined the European Union, Transnistria and Gagauzia would have the right to hold referendums on independence.
What does Russia offer in return?
In return, Moscow was to declare its readiness to withdraw nuclear weapons from Belarus and refrain from deploying medium-range missiles there. The Russians also allegedly offered to withdraw their troops from Transnistria.
The German daily noted that this is just one of several proposals discussed in informal negotiations. According to the newspaper, several groups of intermediaries operate in parallel and compete with each other.
Therefore, it is not clear which of the ideas presented have Vladimir Putin's support, or whether Russia is not testing the reaction of Western negotiators to various, even the most absurd, proposals.
"Russian land" without any boundaries
Russia has not softened its position on territorial demands. Moscow's position was summed up in the statement of Vladimir Medinsky, who led the Russian delegation. On the sidelines of talks in the United Arab Emirates, he said: "Every inch of Russian land will be returned to Russia, one way or another."
Medinsky did not explain what he meant by "Russian land." His rhetoric, however, is similar to Vladimir Putin's repeated claims about "historically Russian lands." The Russian leader said in October that the occupied parts of Ukraine were not Ukrainian territory but "historical territory of Russia."
In 2022, the Kremlin added four partially occupied Ukrainian oblasts to the Russian constitution: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson. Russian troops do not fully control any of them.
The Kremlin returns to its pre-invasion demands
On Thursday, Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, stated that the Kremlin is counting on European support for talks on a new security architecture on the continent.
Ushakov spoke after Putin's meeting with US President Donald Trump's envoys - Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. American representatives were to arrive in Moscow after two days of talks in Abu Dhabi in the Ukraine-US-Russia format.
An adviser to the Russian leader said that Putin supported the American proposal to solve the security issue of Russia and Ukraine by creating a European security system. He recalled that Moscow had presented similar demands already in 2021.
Before launching full-scale aggression against Ukraine, Russia demanded from NATO a guarantee not to expand the Alliance. It also demanded a reduction in the US military presence in regions considered by Moscow as its security zone and the withdrawal of NATO forces and infrastructure from countries that joined the Alliance after 1997.
