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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has provided details of his latest peace plan, which offers Russia the possibility of withdrawing its troops from the east as demanded by Moscow.
Zelensky detailed the 20-point plan agreed by U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators in Florida over the weekend, saying that once the Americans talk to the Russians, the Russians will respond.
Zelensky described the plan as “the main framework for ending the war” and said it proposed security guarantees from the United States, NATO and Europe for a coordinated military response if Russia invaded Ukraine again.
On the key issue of Donbas in eastern Ukraine, Zelensky said that the “free economic zone” was a potential option.
He told reporters that U.S. negotiators were seeking to establish a demilitarized zone, or free economic zone, as Ukraine opposed the troop withdrawal.
“There are two options, either the war continues or a decision must be made on all potential economic zones,” Zelensky said.
The 20-point plan is seen as an update to the original 28-point document agreed with Russia weeks ago by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, which was widely seen as primarily targeting Kremlin demands.
Russia insists that Ukraine withdraw nearly a quarter of its territory from the eastern Donetsk region in exchange for a peace deal. The rest of the area has been occupied by Russia.
Zelensky explained that sensitive issues, including territorial issues, must be resolved at the “leadership level,” but that the new draft would provide Ukraine with strong security guarantees and 800,000 military personnel.
The updated plan largely resembles the outcome of recent talks in Berlin between U.S. negotiators Vitkov and Jared Kushner with Ukrainian and European leaders. Over the weekend, the venue shifted to Miami, where U.S. President Donald Trump’s team spoke separately with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Ukrainian and European officials.
While there is clearly no consensus on the part of Ukraine, there now appears to be more detail on the territorial issue.
Zelensky explained that if Ukraine is prepared to withdraw its heavy troops by 5, 10 or 40 kilometers in the 25% of Donetsk that it still controls in order to create a “free economic zone” that will effectively demilitarize it, then Russia must also “retreat by 5, 10 or 40 kilometers accordingly.”
He stressed that an economic zone must also be established around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, currently occupied by Russia, and that Russian troops must withdraw from four other Ukrainian regions – Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaev, Sumy and Kharkiv.
