Spoiler question -

I've never played through the peace meeting quest in the main storyline, but from what I've read about it it seems that it has the potential to really mess up the Civil War questline. I really enjoy the Civil War quests, especially the battles like the Battle of Whiterun, and don't want them to be skipped or bugged or something after completing that peace meeting quest.

Can anyone who has played through this peace meeting let me know where you can play the CV from afterwards? Can you still have to do Initiation --> Jagged Crown --> Battle for Whiterun?

Anyone? Surely someone must have played both questlines... they're only the biggest ones in the game!

You can do the civil war and then do the MQ. The peace treaty only happens if the civil war is incomplete when you reach that part of the MQ.

After you finish an MQ where you did the peace treaty you then can complete the civil war.

Thanks, but if you leave the civil war completely untouched, can you then start it from its beginning (i.e. initiation, then jagged crown, etc) after completing the main quest?

Basically this is my final 'complete' playthrough and I want to see the council meeting for the first time, and also after completing the main quest, be able to get the jagged crown and not return it to anyone

Is this possible?

Yes, it's possible.