The United States has suggested creating a “free economic zone” in parts of the eastern Donbas region from which Ukraine would withdraw under a deal with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday.
Zelensky said kyiv has presented the United States with an updated version of a peace plan: “not a single document, but a set of documents,” many of which need to be finalized. He said the Trump administration wants a “full understanding” of the status of the plan by Christmas.
Territorial issues remain unresolved, the Ukrainian leader said. “The Russians want all of Donbas, but we, of course, do not accept it,” he explained.
Some background: Russia has been fighting in the Donbass region, which encompasses the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, since 2014. Moscow is now trying to secure through US-brokered peace negotiations what it has been unable to win through force of arms.
“Our position is that it is fair to remain where we are, that is, on the line of contact,” Zelensky said.
As a compromise, Zelensky said the United States has discussed creating a “free economic zone” in the parts of the Donbas from which Ukrainian troops would withdraw. The Russians refer to the territory under discussion as a “demilitarized” zone, he added.
Zelensky said questions remain about who would administer the territory and how to ensure the troop withdrawal was fair. He also questioned who would police the “free economic zone.”
What’s next? American, European and Ukrainian officials will meet this weekend in Paris for further talks on the peace plan. But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it is “up in the air” whether the Trump administration will send a representative. He said President Donald Trump is “fed up with meeting just for the sake of meeting.”
Yesterday, Trump said the United States would help with security efforts, should a deal be reached, which “I think is a necessary factor in getting it done.”
