Newly disclosed documents of Russia’s first proposal in 2022, purportedly aimed at ending its so-called “special military operation,” actually resembled an agreement for Ukraine to surrender, Radio Free Europe reported on Monday.

The documents obtained by the Europe-based outlet revealed that on March 7, 2022, 11 days after Russia’s invasion began and one week into talks between Moscow and Kyiv, Russia presented a document titled “Agreement on settlement of the situation in Ukraine and neutrality of Ukraine.”

However, the notion of “neutrality of Ukraine” essentially meant Russia was aiming to establish Ukraine as a “puppet” state under the Kremlin’s control.

The Russian proposal reportedly demanded Kyiv cede Crimea, seized by Russia a decade earlier, as well as the Donbas, where pro-Russian separatists have been fighting Ukrainian troops since 2014. This included surrendering both the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in easternmost Ukraine, which Russia has yet to fully capture despite years of intense fighting.

The proposal further stipulated that Kyiv pledge to never join NATO and reduce its military to just 50,000 soldiers, down from the 250,000-strong force it had before the invasion.

Only four ships, 55 helicopters, and 300 tanks would reportedly be allowed to remain in Ukraine.

Under the agreement, Kyiv would also have been prohibited from possessing or developing any missiles with a strike range of 250 km (155 miles), effectively preventing Ukraine from targeting the Crimean bridge from its front lines in the Zaporizhzhia region.

By the end of April 2022, the talks had collapsed after Ukraine rejected Moscow’s demands. This coincided with Ukraine successfully repelling Russian attempts to seize Kyiv and the revelation of the full scale of Russian military casualties.

After nearly 1,000 days of war, Russia has failed to capture any additional territory from Ukraine since its February 22, 2022, invasion, although Russian President Vladimir Putin formally annexed Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk in September of that year.

Several attempts to broker peace talks have been initiated but have yielded little progress. Ukraine remains steadfast in its assertion that the war will only end when Russia withdraws its troops and ends its illegal invasion.

Following Ukraine’s success in blocking Russian forces from capturing the capital, pushing Russia out of Kyiv, and largely holding the line in the east over the past two years, despite facing setbacks this year due to a temporary slowdown in U.S. military aid, the West has highlighted Moscow’s failures.

The U.S. and NATO allies have provided substantial military support to Ukraine, although they have stopped short of deploying international troops. Concerns over Ukrainian manpower remain a significant issue in the war.

Although Ukraine has experienced a surge in enlistment and significantly expanded its fighting force to approximately 900,000 active-duty soldiers as of 2024, along with an additional 1.2 million reserve forces, according to Statista, it still falls short of Russia’s military size.

Russia is estimated to have an active military force of about 1 million, with another 2 million reserves, and is expected to be bolstered by up to 10,000 North Korean soldiers joining its war machine.

Russia is now experiencing its highest number of casualties since the war began, reporting around 1,200 casualties per day, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed last week.

Despite the heavy troop casualties, there appears to be no end in sight to the war, confirming early concerns that this would be a war of attrition.

Reports earlier this year suggested Putin might be willing to negotiate a ceasefire, but he has repeatedly stated that Ukraine must agree to not join NATO for the war to end.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has categorically refused to cede any territory to Russia, demanding the return of Crimea to Ukraine and making it clear that joining NATO is a top security priority for Kyiv.