Putin rejected Kozak’s peace deal at the start of the war

The agreement, according to the publication, was to meet Russia’s request that Ukraine not join NATO. According to Kozak, the deal he concluded would relieve Russia of the need to continue the war in Ukraine. He advised Putin to agree with her.

For his part, according to Reuters, Putin made it clear when presented with Kozak’s deal that the concessions negotiated by his aide did not go far enough and that he broadened his goals to include the annexation of areas of Ukrainian territory. As a result, the deal fell through.

Asked about the Reuters results, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “This has absolutely nothing to do with reality. It never happened. This is absolutely wrong information.”

At the same time, Kozak himself did not respond to requests for comment on this issue sent via the Kremlin.

Presidential Adviser Mikhail Podolyak said Russia used the talks as a smokescreen to prepare for an invasion, but did not answer questions about the content of the talks or confirm that an interim agreement had been reached. “Today we clearly understand that the Russian side has never been interested in a peaceful settlement,” Podolyak said.

Two of the three sources said the push to complete the deal came immediately after the February 24 Russian invasion. Days later, Kozak decided to have Ukraine’s agreement on the basic terms Russia was looking for, the sources said, and recommended that Putin sign the deal.

“After February 24, Kozak was given carte blanche: they gave the green light, he got the deal. He brought him back and told him to leave. Everything was canceled. Putin just changed the plan. along the way, “said one of the sources of the publication close to the Russian leadership.

A third source told of the events by people informed about the discussions between Kozak and Putin differs from the time, saying that Kozak offered a deal to Putin and was turned down shortly before the invasion.

At the same time, the authors say that even if Putin accepted Kozak’s plan, it is unclear whether the war would be over.

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