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In a press conference on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that the United States wants Kyiv to withdraw its troops from the Donbas region and Washington would then create a “free economic zone” in parts of the occupied territories.
Zelenskyy’s revelation marked a shift from the US’s previous suggestion that Kyiv should hand over the parts of Donbas it still controlled to Russia. The Ukrainian leader noted that Washington had suggested a compromise version in which Ukrainian troops would withdraw, but Russian troops would not advance into the territory.
“Who will govern this territory, which they are calling a ‘free economic zone’ or a ‘demilitarised zone’ – they don’t know,” said the Ukrainian president, speaking with journalists in Kyiv on Thursday. Zelenskyy maintained that Ukraine does not consider the plan to be fair without guarantees that Russian troops would not simply take over the zone after Ukraine withdraws from it.
“If one side’s troops have to retreat and the other side stays where they are, then what will hold back these other troops, the Russians? Or what will stop them from disguising themselves as civilians and taking over this free economic zone? This is all very serious. It’s not a fact that Ukraine would agree to it, but if you are talking about a compromise, then it has to be a fair compromise," he said.
Ukraine rejects the scheme
Zelenskyy made it clear that the Ukrainian side did not agree to the scheme. He insisted that there would need to be elections or a referendum to ratify it, saying that only “the Ukrainian people” could make decisions on territorial concessions.
While explaining the American plan, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would withdraw from Donbas, where Russia is advancing, and frontlines would be frozen in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. He also noted that the plan obligates Russia to give up a few small parcels of land it controls in other regions as well.
Quick Reads
View AllIt is pertinent to note that the Ukrainian leader has been under immense pressure from Trump to sign the peace plan. Recently, Trump has unleashed a fresh set of attacks against Zelenskyy, claiming that he “has not even read” the draft peace plan and suggesting he lacks legitimacy and that Ukraine should hold an election.
On Thursday, Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt highlighted White House’s frustration over the matter. “The president is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war, and he is sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting," she said.
What lies ahead
During the presser, Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian negotiating team had sent their revised plan back to Washington on Wednesday. He mentioned that the questions over territory and control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant were two of the remaining sticking points.
“It’s not the final plan; it’s a reaction to what we received … the plan is constantly being worked on and edited, and this is a continuous process that is still going on,” he said. Interestingly, if Washington and Kyiv happen to agree to the revised plan, the next question would be whether Russia’s Vladimir Putin is really ready to sign a deal or is merely buying time with fake negotiations and hoping to continue his military advance over the winter.
Meanwhile, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Thursday in Berlin that Putin was allowed to get his way in Ukraine, then the prospect of war in Europe would become more real, warning that the continent had been “quietly complacent” over the threat from Russia.
“A new war waged by Russia could come within the next five years and could be on the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured”, Rutte suggested. He issued a now-familiar call for all European countries to increase defence spending. “Too many believe that time is on our side. It is not. The time for action is now,” the Nato chief furthered.
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