New peace plan: better than the old one, but still far from good for Ukraine and Europe

President Zelensky recently presented the new 20 points Peace Plan, which is different from the former peace plan that was more like a plan for complete surrender, not only militarily but also surrendering to Russian propaganda narratives. Still, the new peace plan, which could potentially, according to the Ukrainian president, be confirmed by Ukrainians through a referendum, holds some rewards for the aggressor, Russia. Ukraine will not join NATO, but demands security guarantees that are similar to Article 5. This is the actual problem for Russia, not being able to attack, not getting attacked. Further, the peace plan, while it highlights the sovereignty of Ukraine, does not demand a full Russian withdrawal from the occupied territories of Ukraine.

One point of the agreement says: “Both countries agree to promote education that fosters cultural understanding and combats racism and prejudice. Ukraine will adopt EU standards on religious tolerance and minority language protection.” This is something that is part of the EU accession plan of Ukraine anyway and is already in the process of being implemented. Meanwhile, in Russia, radical views and hatred are promoted. It is interesting that the minority languages part is not mandatory for Russia in this plan, which shows that it still gives some kind of tribute to Russian “war justifications” of “protecting Russian speakers,” which is problematic.

The biggest problem of this peace plan is the high risk connected to security guarantees that become obsolete when „Ukraine attacks Russia“. This makes sense at first glance, but looking deeper into the history of this war, before the full-scale invasion started, Russia conducted many false flag operations and staged propaganda videos. In one of them, we could see a man screaming in pain because he allegedly lost his leg during an “attack of the Kyiv regime.” The problem was that in a couple of frames it was visible that he already wore a prosthesis. The video was then removed by Russian propagandists after they were exposed. Moscow has a long history of forgery, staged events, and false flag operations to demonize the enemy and “justify” reactions.

In December 2025, chats between pro-Russian agents were published that planned false flag operations using stickers and graffiti in public spaces. They also used far-right symbols connected to pro-Ukrainian messages to make Ukrainians and pro-Ukrainians look like “Nazis,” and they damaged property during their false flag operations to create even more hatred against Ukrainians. Russian agents could easily stage an attack on Russia to “justify” another invasion and make Ukraine’s allies hesitant to help.

1999: After several bomb attacks on apartment buildings in Russia, which were attributed at the time to Chechens, a strange incident occurred. On September 22, 1999, residents in Ryazan, Russia, observed a car unloading large sacks into the basement of an apartment building. Police found bags containing white powder and a detonator, which appeared to indicate an imminent attack. It later emerged that the individuals involved were officers of Russia’s domestic security service, the FSB. Shortly afterward, the FSB claimed it had not been a real bomb, but “sugar” used as part of an anti-terrorism exercise.

In 2014 Russian forces in the occupied Donetsk oblast shot down passenger airliner MH17, killing all 298 souls on board. The Kremlin reacted with an incomparable disinformation campaign, aiming to overwhelm audiences with so many “alternative” versions of reality that what actually happened was pushed into the background. Russia never admitted the shootdown of MH17, but rather used it to create even more propaganda to demonize Ukraine, claiming “Ukraine shot it down.”

There are several situations in which Russian propaganda confused Western audiences and politicians about the situation in Ukraine since 2014. Who is going to monitor the contact line between Ukraine and Russia, and are these observers aware that Russia could conduct false flag operations or other forgeries at any time? Not only Russia’s allies, but also Western countries acted extremely naively regarding the Kremlin’s strategies of confusion and deception. The long history of “Active Measures,” now upgraded to modern hybrid warfare, still does not seem to be part of common knowledge and awareness. Russia broke several agreements it had with Ukraine since 2014 and never showed any compromises or admitted guilt for the escalation since 2014. The idea of having a binding, reliable, and sustainable agreement with this regime without showing force is a naive illusion that was wrong in 2014 and is even more wrong now.

Sources:

1. Example of False Flag attack before the full scale invasion, TSN, 2022
https://tsn.ua/ru/ukrayina/segodnya-eto-oskar-boeviki-snyali-ocherednoe-feykovoe-video-s-ranenym-grazhdanskim-v-luganskoy-oblasti-1983103.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com

2. „Ukraine’s Zelensky offers peace concessions – and puts the ball in Putin’s court“, CNN 2025
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/24/europe/ukraine-zelensky-peace-concessions-intl