According to a report by EADaily on November 24, Russian political figure Tzarev quoted an English version of the peace plan released by American Axios on his TG channel, stating that the 28-point peace plan proposed by the US President does not specify the obligations Ukraine must fulfill, such as recognizing Russian as a national language, ceasing persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and abolishing normative legal provisions that discriminate against the Orthodox Church.

Tzarev pointed out that the plan does have a clause stating "Ukraine will accept the EU's norms on religious tolerance and protection of linguistic minorities," but these regulations already exist, yet they have never truly helped Russian speakers.

He believes that the peace agreement does not require granting Russian the status of a national language, which is no coincidence. "I am certain that the Ukrainian authorities would rather retreat to areas including the Dnieper River than make any concessions on the language issue."

Ukraine

Ukraine's language policy has always been a highly sensitive political issue. Tzarev's statement about being willing to cede territory rather than yield on language is not exaggerated.

Since independence, Ukraine has been striving to shape its independent national identity, and language has been the most direct and symbolic part of this effort.

For Kyiv, as long as Russian has the same rights as Ukrainian in the public sphere, it would affect domestic historical narratives, cultural belonging, and political mobilization.

Especially in major cities in the east and south, a large population has long used Russian as their native or primary language.

Granting Russian the status of a national language not only means making concessions at the legislative level, but also causes divisions at the level of identity.

Therefore, Ukraine values the bottom line of identity, because it is the foundation of the state, and any concessions on language are equivalent to shaking the political foundation.

Ukrainian De-Russification

In Tzarev's view, due to the absence of language commitments, there are obvious loopholes in the peace plan.

Trump's plan attempts to build an operational ceasefire framework through territorial exchange, military restrictions, and foreign supervision, but in the Russian narrative, this is not all.

Over the past decade, Ukraine has been pushing for de-Russification, including removing Russian public signs, revising school curricula, closing Russian media and publications, and pressuring the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

These policies aim to completely separate from Russia culturally and politically.

If the peace agreement does not restrict Ukraine's subsequent actions, the root cause of the war cannot be truly eliminated, and future conflicts may resurge.

Tzarev's underlying message is that without cultural constraints, territorial concessions can only be a temporary solution.

Once the conflict is downgraded, Ukraine may continue to push for more intense language policies. At that time, Russia would be unable to launch another large-scale operation, and would be very passive.

Russia-Ukraine Talks

This divergence makes the current peace plan even more bleak.

For Ukraine, as long as Russian has any national symbolic significance in law, it equals reserving influence for Russia in its future politics.

Therefore, they might really be willing to make painful concessions on territorial issues, but to hold onto the core position on language.

As for Russia, as long as Ukraine continues to prohibit Russian, no matter how many clauses are signed, it cannot prevent Ukraine from continuing down the path of anti-Russian policies.

In general, this plan has significant differences from the expectations of all parties. This is why, after talking with Ukraine, Ukraine modified some parts, and after talking with Europe, Europe modified some parts again. Then comes the talk with Russia, and Russia might modify even more parts. Even seeing the modified plans from Europe and Ukraine, it is questionable whether Russia is willing to continue the talks.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7576570986141696575/

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