Zelensky open to demilitarized zone in Ukraine's heartland
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that he would be willing to withdraw troops from the country’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end Russia’s war, provided Moscow also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.
The proposal offered another potential compromise on control of the Donbas region, which has been a major sticking point in peace negotiations, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
Mr Zelensky said the US proposed the creation of a “free economic zone”, which he said should be demilitarised. But it was unclear what that idea would mean for governance or development of the region.
A similar arrangement could be possible for the area around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently under Russian control, Mr Zelensky said. He said any peace plan would need to be put to a referendum.
Mr Zelensky spoke to reporters on Tuesday to describe an overarching 20-point plan that negotiators from Ukraine and the US hammered out in Florida in recent days, though he said many details are still being discussed.
Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.
In fact, Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas.
Asked about the plan, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Moscow would decide its position based on information received by Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who met US envoys in Florida over the weekend. Mr Peskov declined to share further details.
American negotiators have engaged in a series of talks with Ukraine and Russia separately since US President Donald Trump presented a plan to end the war last month — a proposal widely seen as favouring Moscow, which invaded its neighbour nearly four years ago.
Since then, Ukraine and its allies in Europe have worked to pull the plan closer to Kyiv’s position.
Mr Zelensky said figuring out control of the Donbas region is “the most difficult point”.
Meanwhile, on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the US has proposed creating a consortium with Ukraine and Russia, in which each party would have an equal stake.
Mr Zelensky countered with a proposal for a joint venture between the US and Ukraine, in which the Americans would be able to decide how to distribute their share, including giving some of it to Russia.
Mr Zelensky acknowledged that the US has not yet accepted Ukraine’s counter-proposals.
“But we have significantly brought most of the positions closer together,” Mr Zelensky said. “In principle, all other consensus in this agreement has been found between us and them.”
The working US-Ukraine draft also proposes that Russian forces withdraw from the Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Sumy and Kharkiv regions.
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