Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto has proposed a plan for the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine, which includes a ceasefire, the creation of a demilitarized zone, and the deployment of UN peacekeepers. The plan was presented at 12:00 pm on Saturday, June 3rd. conferences Security Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
The first paragraph of the Indonesian plan calls for an immediate ceasefire by both sides.
“Secondly, both sides are withdrawing 15 kilometers from their current positions to create a new demilitarized zone,” Subianto said, adding that international peacekeeping forces should be deployed to this area as soon as possible.
According to him, “the UN should organize and hold a referendum in the disputed areas in order to objectively confirm the will of the majority of the inhabitants.”
At the same time, the head of the department did not specify which regions he was referring to, he writes. TASS. Until March last year, the RF Armed Forces controlled about 27% of Ukraine’s territory, but by December this figure had dropped to 18%. Thus, Russian troops almost completely left the Kharkov region in September and left Kherson in early November.
At the end of September 2022, the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions became part of the Russian Federation after the referendums.
“A little peace at least is better than mass extermination”
Subianto said Indonesia is ready to participate in all processes to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, including sending its army as part of the UN peacekeeping mission. Citing the situation on the Korean Peninsula as an example, he added that the measures he listed “have already shown their effectiveness in the course of history.”
“Yes, the conflict in Korea still needs a lasting solution. But we have had at least some kind of peace for 50 years, which is much better than mass destruction and killing innocent people,” he said.
“And let’s not put the blame on either side here: there are always two versions of the conflict. “Each of the parties is confident that they are right,” Subianto said.
He also urged the participants of the Shangri-La Dialogue forum to adopt a declaration calling for an emergency ceasefire in Ukraine. “I don’t know if what I propose can be accepted, but at least let’s try to make specific recommendations,” Indonesian Defense Minister said.
“Demilitarized zone in the Russian Federation”
Establishing a “demilitarized zone” in formerly Russia’s border regions with Ukraine presented Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine.
“The main theme of the post-war device should be the installation of fuses to prevent recurrence of aggression in the future. The introduction of a 100-120 km demilitarized zone will be mandatory,” he wrote.
According to him, such a zone should be created in the Belgorod, Bryansk, Rostov and Kursk regions. Podolyak believes that this will protect the territory of Ukraine.
He added that initially international troops or peacekeeping troops should be deployed on the territory of the “demilitarized zone”.
UN peacekeeping force
If economic and political measures prove insufficient, UN peacekeepers are brought in to prevent or eliminate a threat to peace and security through joint coercive action.
Decisions on the creation, composition, use and financing of peacekeeping forces are taken by the UN Security Council. Strategic leadership is carried out by the Military Personnel Committee.
This unit successfully coped with the tasks assigned to it in many local conflicts in various parts of the world. In 1988, the UN peacekeepers were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Under the current UN Charter, no decision can be taken without the consent of any permanent member of the Security Council – each has a veto right.
Russia’s veto right, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, specifically does not allow sending UN peacekeepers to Ukraine.
In March 2022, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning the actions of the Russian Federation and called for the withdrawal of troops from Ukrainian territory. Last April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented dissolving, reforming or reshaping the UN Security Council itself exclude RF from its composition.