Plan for ceasefire in Ukraine presented in Geneva
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) has published a 31-page plan on its website with specific mechanisms for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
“The GCSP is pleased to present its 'Ceasefire Toolkit' a comprehensive resource developed with insights from world-renowned ceasefire experts,” the Centre said on its website.
According to the document, it is proposed to create a buffer zone at least 10 km wide and allocate five thousand civilians and police officers to patrol it. To ensure security, about 10 thousand foreign military personnel will be allocated.
Organize the work of international observers with a joint commission consisting of Russian and Ukrainian military personnel. Through this commission, both sides could hold each other accountable and agree on solutions to such related issues as the release of prisoners, demining, and the creation of civilian corridors through the buffer zone.
Use the ceasefire as a first step toward a broader package of agreements, including a political settlement, arms control agreements and confidence- and security-building measures between NATO and Russia, strategic stability between the United States and Russia, and discussions on the future of European security.
It is noted that representatives from Ukraine, Russia, the USA and the EU took part in the preparation of the document.
As reported by The New York Times, citing the director of the Geneva Center for Security Policy, Thomas Greminger, among the experts who participated in the preparation of the document were employees of international organizations and former military commanders with experience in peacekeeping. All of them acted on the condition of anonymity. According to him, the participants in these meetings, whose identities the director of the center also did not disclose, acted in a personal capacity.
According to him, many experts agree that the biggest difficulty in implementing proposals for a sustainable ceasefire is the position of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. They express skepticism about the readiness of the Russian president to agree to a ceasefire and adhere to its terms.
Russian officials promised almost until the very beginning of the war that he had no intention of invading Ukraine. And no monitoring mission could deter the Russian president if he decided to launch a new invasion of Ukraine, the NYT says.
Commenting on the likely development of events, Janis Kluge, a Russia expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin, told the ezine that it was dangerous to occupy one's mind with the illusion of a potentially imminent ceasefire.