3 June, 17:25
The recently published Russian “peace memorandum” is not a diplomatic proposal — it’s a diagnostic tool. It reveals, with surgical precision, what the Kremlin fears most about Ukraine. Each demand is not a step toward compromise, but rather a blueprint for dismantling Ukraine as a sovereign political nation.
But here’s the paradox: everything Russia wants to ban, restrict, or destroy is precisely what makes Ukraine strong. That means Ukraine must double down on these foundations, not retreat from them.
1. 🇺🇦 National identity is not just rhetoric — it’s infrastructure for sovereignty
What Russia demands: disbanding “nationalist” formations, reinstating the Moscow-affiliated church (UOC-MP), granting Russian language official status.
What this means: The Kremlin fears not radicals, but the very idea of Ukraine — as a separate cultural, historical, linguistic, and political reality. Not a variation of Russia, but its opposite.
✅ What Ukraine must do:
Institutionalize national identity as a forward-looking civic project, not a relic of the past.
Complete decolonization of culture, education, media, and place names.
Legally restrict the influence of Russian Orthodox Church structures, including the UOC-MP.
Support veterans, volunteers, and civic activists as the nucleus of a new political class.
📌 If the enemy fears your values — those values are your weapons.
2. ⚔️ The military is not just a force — it's the nucleus of a new statehood
What Russia demands: downsizing the Armed Forces, ending mobilization, banning Western military aid.
What this means: The Ukrainian Armed Forces are no longer just a military — they’ve become a pillar of national trust, cohesion, and legitimacy. Russia fears not just the soldiers, but the fact that Ukraine is now capable of sustaining a real army of its own.
✅ What Ukraine must do:
Invest in high-tech modernization — drones, AI, cyberwarfare, battlefield logistics.
Develop smart mobilization strategies — volunteer-centric, tech-enabled, professionalized.
Build a defense-industrial ecosystem embedded in the national economy.
Cultivate a new generation of officers — leaders, not administrators.
📌 The army is not just a shield — it is the architecture of the future state.
3. 🛡 Civil society — what Russia doesn’t understand, and therefore can’t control
What Russia demands: nothing. Civil society isn’t mentioned at all.
What this means: Authoritarian logic ignores horizontal institutions. But it is precisely volunteerism, activism, and local organization that sustained Ukraine when the state was weak.
✅ What Ukraine must do:
Turn volunteer networks into lasting civic infrastructure.
Protect independent media, digital rights, and civic space.
Empower local governance and grassroots resilience, especially in frontline and de-occupied regions.
📌 Where the state recedes, society steps in. This is Ukraine’s greatest asymmetry.
4. 🌍 The West is not just an ally — it must be part of Ukraine’s internal structure
What Russia demands: neutrality, no NATO, no foreign troops or military assistance.
What this means: The Kremlin fears not NATO as a structure, but Ukraine becoming a de facto part of the West — in culture, technology, governance, and security.
✅ What Ukraine must do:
Expand interoperability with NATO — joint trainings, intelligence sharing, standardization.
Actively contribute to European and transatlantic security frameworks.
Launch joint cyber and defense innovation platforms with partners.
Internalize Western governance models, from digital ID systems to public audits.
📌 If the West won’t fully integrate us — we must become the West ourselves.
5. 🏛 The state must be built on trust, not Soviet leftovers
What Russia hopes for: That Ukraine will collapse from within — through corruption, fatigue, or dysfunction.
What this means: Putin’s greatest nightmare is not NATO troops — it’s a functioning, legitimate Ukrainian democracy.
✅ What Ukraine must do:
Dismantle oligarchic and corrupt power networks, not just rhetorically but structurally.
Rebuild judiciary and anti-corruption institutions to restore public trust.
Cultivate a new, competent, ethical political elite.
Reform the Constitution and governance system for a nation at war and on the move — not for stagnation.
📌 A modern state is not about form — it’s about function and moral contract.
❗️Conclusion
The Kremlin’s ultimatum isn’t about peace — it’s about erasing the future of Ukraine.
But the demands themselves reveal something deeper: Putin fears not Ukrainian missiles, but Ukrainian freedom. He fears not NATO infrastructure, but the idea of a living, dignified, self-aware Ukraine.
🇺🇦 A modern, high-tech army
🇺🇦 A confident national identity
🇺🇦 A resilient civil society
🇺🇦 A self-reliant democracy
🇺🇦 Deep integration with the West
These are not talking points — they are the foundations of Ukraine’s long-term victory. Not only in this war, but in history.