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Zelenskyy said Ukraine viewed the plan as unfair without assurances that Russian forces wouldn’t simply move in and seize the area after a Ukrainian withdrawal.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was mainly concerned with country’s security. (AFP file photo)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the US wants Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the Donbas region, and Washington would then create a “free economic zone” in the parts Kyiv currently controls.
The US had earlier suggested Kyiv to hand over the parts of Donbas it still controlled, to Russia, but the Ukrainian president said on Thursday that Washington had now suggested a compromise version in which Ukrainian troops would withdraw, but Russian troops would not advance into the territory.
Speaking with journalists in Kyiv on Thursday, the Ukrainian president said, “Who will govern this territory, which they are calling a ‘free economic zone’ or a ‘demilitarised zone’ – they don’t know.”
Zelenskyy said Ukraine viewed the plan as unfair without assurances that Russian forces wouldn’t simply move in and seize the area after a Ukrainian withdrawal.
Zelenskyy said: “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 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 that if Ukraine were to accept such a plan, it would require elections or a referendum to approve it, stressing that only “the Ukrainian people” can decide on any territorial concessions.
Zelenskyy said, under the US plans, Ukraine would withdraw from Donbas, where Russia is advancing, while the frontlines would be frozen in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Russia would give up a few small pockets of land it controls in other regions.
Zelenskyy has faced strong pressure from Donald Trump to accept the US peace plan. In recent days, Trump has criticised him, alleging that he “has not even read” the draft proposal and questioning his legitimacy while urging Ukraine to hold an election.
Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said on Thursday, “The president is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war, and he is sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting.”
Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s negotiating team had sent its revised proposal to Washington on Wednesday, adding that territorial issues and control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant remain key 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.
If Washington and Kyiv reach an agreement, a larger question looms: is Vladimir Putin genuinely prepared to sign a deal, or simply stalling with sham negotiations while aiming to push his military offensive through the winter?
Click here to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google. December 12, 2025, 12:27 IST
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