Italian Army Gen. Fabio Mini (ret.), an outspoken critic of NATO policy, published a 10-point Action Plan for peace in Ukraine in the daily Il Fatto Quotidiano on Feb. 25. The plan is preceded by five principles ("Chinese-style,” he wrote). General Mini is an expert on peace-keeping, having commanded the NATO’s KFOR mission in Kosovo in 2002-2003.
“The initiative for a solution must start from an agreement between the de facto warring parties: the United States and Russia bilaterally or within the UN Security Council. Without their agreement on certain principles every other initiative would be useless: 1) Reaffirm the rights of peoples to self-determination, to respect for their identities, freedoms, ideas, faiths and property. 2) Ukraine has the right to the restoration of its territorial sovereignty with full respect for the will of its citizens including those of entities claiming independence or autonomy as well as the preservation of the rights of minorities of all kinds. 3) The resolution of the conflict must allow for the establishment of a new security arrangement in Europe that does not rest exclusively on armed threats and tends toward the removal of all causes and pretexts for territorial conflicts. 4) Multinational institutions and alliances in Europe must respect and reaffirm their commitments and standards regarding geographical scope and modes of action. 5) Need for an international reconstruction fund for conflict-affected areas in Europe that not only looks after the interests of “donors” but also those of the assisted.
