Edward P. Joseph, lecturer at Johns Hopkins University in the United States and an expert in conflict management, proposes a strategic approach to achieving peace in Ukraine, based on the Kosovo model.
He has also developed this idea in an analysis published in the academic journal SAIS Review of International Affairs.
Joseph explains that applying the principles of Resolution 1244 in Donbas—international administration, the deployment of peacekeeping forces, and postponing the issue of sovereignty for a later stage—could provide Ukraine with security guarantees without requiring it to accept the Russian annexation of the region.
Joseph also acknowledges the efforts of the Trump administration, emphasizing that it has prioritized achieving peace in Ukraine and has introduced new dynamics into the negotiation process.
“The most important and most interesting aspect of using the Kosovo model in Donbas—meaning in Ukraine—to achieve a ceasefire is that Russian President [Vladimir] Putin supports it.
This is the starting point, but not the only one. For more than two decades, Putin has insisted that Resolution 1244 must be respected. [Editor’s note: This 1999 resolution ordered the withdrawal of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia’s troops from Kosovo and placed Kosovo under United Nations administration.]
Putin has also repeatedly stated that Kosovo and Ukraine are the same thing.
The idea of using a model is entirely appropriate. The U.S. administration is taking elements from the plan for Gaza. But I believe the Kosovo model is far more relevant than that of Gaza. Even Putin himself knows the Kosovo model very well,” Joseph stated.