Ukraine-Russia War May Freeze on Korean Model: Ex-NATO Chief

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Former NATO Secretary General Ambassador Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo tells Al Arabiya English that Kyiv’s strategic shift now leaves Russia exposed as the potential spoiler.

By TRH Foreign Affairs Desk

New Delhi, November 27, 2025 — Former Secretary General of NATO Ambassador Alessandro Minuto‑Rizzo has said that Ukraine’s agreement to a revised version of the so-called 28-point peace plan has shifted diplomatic pressure firmly onto Russia.

Speaking to Al Arabiya English, Minuto-Rizzo noted that the original proposal was widely viewed as a Russian document that had effectively been translated into English and repackaged as a peace framework. He said the plan has now been reduced to fewer points and, crucially, accepted by Ukraine.

“That means the ball is now in Russia’s court,” Minuto-Rizzo said, adding that if Moscow rejects the framework, it would be clearly seen as the spoiler. From Washington’s perspective, he described the Ukrainian move as strategically calculated.

The former NATO official said the most significant development is Ukraine’s recent willingness to make limited concessions — a position that would have been unthinkable just months ago. Until recently, he noted, President Volodymyr Zelensky and his government had strictly ruled out any compromise on territorial integrity.

“That language has now changed,” Minuto-Rizzo observed. He clarified, however, that what Ukraine and its European partners may be prepared to accept is not a transfer of sovereignty, but the continued occupation of territories currently held by Russian forces.

“The land would remain in Russian hands because it is occupied — not because Ukraine is giving up its sovereign claim,” he explained. He added that Kyiv still holds long-term hopes that these areas could one day return, even if that prospect lies decades away.

Minuto-Rizzo likened the emerging framework to a potential “Korean solution,” referring to a frozen conflict with a line of demarcation rather than a formal peace treaty. Under such a model, active hostilities would stop, allowing people on both sides of the line to live in relative peace, even as the underlying territorial dispute remains unresolved.

He cautioned that such arrangements are inherently long-term and fragile but noted that Ukraine’s shift in tone represents a major diplomatic pivot as the war grinds on. The next move, he stressed, now belongs to Moscow.

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