President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine told reporters on Tuesday that he was ready to pull his troops back from areas of the eastern Donetsk region still under Kyiv’s control and turn them into a demilitarised zone as part of a possible peace deal with Moscow.
The offer was the closest Zelensky has come to addressing the thorny territorial disputes in Donetsk that have repeatedly derailed peace talks, signalling his willingness to compromise after weeks of US-mediated negotiations.
But the proposal also hinted at the significant gaps that remain between Ukraine and Russia. Zelensky’s offer of a demilitarised zone came with a condition: Russia would have to pull its forces from an equivalent stretch of land in Donetsk. So far, the Kremlin has given no indication that it is willing to accept anything less than full control over the region.
The proposal forms part of a revised 20-point peace plan that was drawn up by Ukraine and the US in the past few weeks and that Zelensky presented to reporters in Kyiv on Tuesday. The blueprint covers a broad range of issues, from potential territorial arrangements to the security guarantees Kyiv wants to prevent future Russian aggression, as well as plans to rebuild the war-ravaged nation.
Zelensky portrayed the plan as Ukraine’s best effort to end the war and said it was now up to Russia to decide how to respond. He said that the new draft was being presented to Russia by the US, and that Kyiv expected a reply by Wednesday evening.
The Ukrainian leader said the various points in the plan “largely reflect the joint Ukrainian American position”. But Kyiv and Washington did not reach an agreement on two sticking points: the fate of Ukrainian-held territory in Donetsk and control of a major nuclear plant currently occupied by Russia. On the second point, Kyiv offered to manage the plant jointly with the US as a form of compromise.
Still, Kyiv’s proposed concessions, even if accepted in full by the US, are likely to be rejected by Moscow. The Kremlin has insisted that its primary goal is a full military takeover of Donetsk — whether achieved on the battlefield or at the negotiating table — and has dismissed any notion of returning the nuclear plant to Ukrainian control.
Zelensky voiced cautious optimism that Moscow would not openly rebuff the new proposal for fear of angering President Donald Trump. If it did, he added, the Kremlin should face serious consequences.
“They cannot tell President Trump: ‘Look, we are against a peaceful settlement,” he told reporters. “That is, if they try to obstruct everything, then President Trump would have to arm us heavily, while imposing all possible sanctions against them.”
The new draft peace plan Zelensky unveiled says Ukraine is ready to build on the idea of a demilitarised zone by expanding it to include not only areas vacated by Ukrainian forces but also Russian-controlled areas from which Moscow would pull its troops.
Zelensky emphasised that any Ukrainian pullback should be matched by Russia, though the exact size of the proposed zone remains unclear. In Donetsk, he said, the demilitarised zone could include Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, two Ukrainian-held cities that form Kyiv’s last main defensive belt in the eastern region. A buffer zone administered by international forces would separate the two sides within the
demilitarised area.
New York Times News Service