Zelensky Proposes Demilitarized Zone in New Peace Proposal – RedState
A new peace deal is being proposed to hopefully end the Russian-Ukrainian war, but no one knows if Russia’s Vladimir Putin will participate. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is proposing to divide baby Donbass – one of the main regions of eastern Ukraine, over which both sides are fighting – by establishing a demilitarized zone, withdrawing Russian and Ukrainian troops.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would be willing to withdraw troops from the eastern Donetsk region and create a demilitarized free economic zone as part of a possible peace deal, provided Russia takes similar steps to withdraw from areas it controls.
Zelensky said the proposal and other aspects of a 20-point plan would be put to a referendum.
The territorial conflict across Donbass, Ukraine’s eastern flank where some of the heaviest fighting rages, is one of the main sticking points in the latest version of a plan to end the conflict drawn up with the United States. kyiv fears that the surrender of fortified positions in the region could make it easier for Russia to stage new attacks. Several attempts have already been made to break the deadlock, but to no avail.
Donbass, it should be noted, is home to up to three million Russian speakers. Ukraine’s only modern census was conducted in 2001 and at the time listed more than 38 million ethnic Russians in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, which include the Donbass region. This represents a total Ukrainian population approaching 50 million.
Ukraine says the United States is ready to accept the deal, although as of this writing the Trump administration has said nothing about the latter proposal.
Zelensky said kyiv was now largely aligned with Washington on the plan, but that Ukraine believed a meeting with President Trump was necessary to iron out some elements. He also said he was ready to explain Ukraine’s position to the Russian side.
“We are ready for a meeting with the United States at the leadership level to address sensitive issues. Issues such as territorial issues must be discussed at the leadership level,” Zelensky said.
Russia wants Ukraine to withdraw from territories in the Donetsk region as part of a deal to end the war, but kyiv has previously said it has no moral rights or constitutional margin to cede Ukrainian territory. The United States is seeking a compromise to create a “free economic zone” in the region.
This “free economic zone” in President Zelensky’s latest proposal would require not only the withdrawal of Ukraine, but also of Russia.
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Given the recent history of negotiations, it seems unlikely that Russia’s Putin will embark on this path. Under Putin, Russia has not been very willing to compromise; The optimism following the Alaska summit crumbled rather quickly as Russia continued to launch artillery, missile and drone attacks against Ukrainian troops and Ukrainian cities.
A year ago, I stressed that the best Ukraine could hope for would be a return to status quo ante 2022; Russia keeps Crimea, Ukraine reclaims land in eastern Ukraine, and both sides return to 2022 borders. Now that seems less and less likely. Ukraine, to reach a peace agreement, may well have to cede part or all of the Donetsk region, and perhaps also part of the Luhansk region. The problem is that any peace achieved this way will almost certainly be temporary.
When feeding a shark, it is not safe to assume that the beast will be satisfied with just one bite.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and the bold leadership of his administration, we are respected on the world stage and our enemies are put on notice.
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