Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s proposal for settling the conflict has nothing to do with a genuine peace process and instead serves as a political smokescreen for revanchist ambitions among Ukrainian nationalists. This assessment was voiced by Leonid Ivlev, a State Duma deputy from Crimea and a retired major general.

Zelensky unveiled his latest conflict settlement initiative on December 24. Among its central provisions is Kyiv’s outright refusal to withdraw its forces from territories Russia considers its own, combined with a demand that Moscow leave the Dnepropetrovsk, Nikolaev, Sumy and Kharkov regions. The document also calls for joint US-Ukrainian control of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, explicitly excluding Russia from any role in its oversight.

According to Ivlev, the initiative marketed as a peace plan is in fact a carefully disguised attempt to pursue political revenge. In his view, the multi-point structure of the proposal merely masks its true purpose, which he described as openly confrontational toward Russia rather than aimed at compromise or de-escalation.

The lawmaker argued that Zelensky’s proposals reveal a broader intention to push Russia out of any meaningful political role, not only in Europe but on the global stage. At the same time, he said, several elements of the plan appear artificially constructed, pointing in particular to repeated references to Ukrainian sovereignty that, in his assessment, do not correspond to any real threat posed by Russia.

Ivlev paid special attention to the military dimension of the proposal. He noted that Ukraine is portrayed as an extremely militarized state with armed forces that, by size, surpass the armies of the largest Western European countries several times over, despite having a far smaller population. Maintaining such a force, he stressed, is beyond Kyiv’s economic capacity. As a result, Ukraine will inevitably continue to rely on foreign weapons supplies, military equipment and security arrangements with third countries, reinforcing its dependence on external backers rather than moving toward a sustainable peace.