Delegates from Ukraine and Netherlands meet to discuss a security guarantee, St. Julien’s, Malta, October 28, 2023
Saturday’s Coverage: Squeeze on Russia’s Economy Tightens as Interest Rates Hiked
Map: Institute for the Study of War
UPDATE 1219 GMT:
Russia carried out a series of attacks on the Kherson region in southern Ukraine last night.
Last night, the Russian military dropped four guided aerial bombs on Novoberyslav, Kherson Oblast, damaging no homes and injuring no one, as per Kherson Regional Military Administration.
📷 Telegram/Kherson OVA pic.twitter.com/xXGKAkLFu8
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) October 29, 2023
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry published photos of the aftermath of massive Russian strikes on the Kherson region. pic.twitter.com/2LSrvxwKE2
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 29, 2023
UPDATE 0537 GMT:
Ukraine’s Air Force says air defenses downed five Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia overnight.
A Kh-59 cruise missile was fired on the Poltava region. There were no casualties or damage to civilian infrastructure.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Representatives of 66 countries gathered in Malta on Saturday to discuss the 10-point Ukraine Peace Formula to end the 20-month Russian invasion.
The Formula, first presented by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the G20 summit last November, calls for:
- Withdrawal of Russian troops and the cessation of hostilities with the restoration of Ukraine’s state borders with Russia;
- Restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity, with Russia reaffirming it, in accordance the UN Charter;
- Prevention of an escalation of conflict and building security architecture in the Euro-Atlantic space, including guarantees for Ukraine;
- Radiation and nuclear safety, including the restoration of security around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest;
- Food security, including protecting and ensuring Ukraine’s grain exports;
- Energy security;
- Release of all prisoners and deportees;
- Justice, including the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes;
- Prevention of ecocide, and the protection of the environment, with a focus on demining and restoring water treatment facilities.
The initial summit was in Denmark’s capital Copenhagen in June. The second gathering in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was attended by 43 countries.
Zelenskiy told the delegates yesterday:
First, the Peace Formula ensures the full force of the UN Charter to stop the aggression against our country and eliminate all its consequences, and thus can later become a model when the full power of international law can prevent other aggressions. Secondly, the Peace Formula enables each country to become a leader in its part and of its kind to restore peace and play an independent role in making peace. And the third, our joint efforts are laying the foundation for a new global tradition of unity – when helping one country end a war, it helps us learn how to end all wars.
He said a joint action plan would be submitted to national leaders at a Global Peace Summit for approval and implementation “for the sake of peace, for the sake of the protection of every nation from wars”.
Presidential Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak added:
During my speech at the session, I reminded that more and more states that respect international law and the UN Charter are joining the development of the Formula plan. And Russia will have to give in to the international community. It will have to accept our common conditions.
— Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) October 28, 2023
Yermak said the summit will concentrate on five of the Formula’s areas: nuclear security, energy security, food security, the release of prisoners of war and deportees, and the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
But what about the 8 million people in the eastern part of the country that regard the government in Kiev as illegitimate? You can’t come up with a peace formula that doesn’t address this. How can good governance, justice, and accountability be achieved in Ukraine if a nationalist government is in power? Some type of democratic power sharing would be necessary; if it isn’t too late for that already. Is centripetalism the answer? Is a consociational model the answer? I don’t know. Let’s face it: This a fratricidal war. If every Russian soldier leaves Ukraine tomorrow, the underlying problems in Ukrainian society will not be resolved.
[Editor’s Note: This is a classic diversion parroting a Kremlin talking point. The Peace Formula calls for the restoration of sovereignty and territorial integrity in a country — Ukraine — so all citizens can protected as issues of governance, justice, and accountability are pursued.]
Is there a plan for ending the civil war? There is nothing in the Ukraine Peace Formula that addresses the well-being and concerns of Russian-Ukrainians.