Zelenskyy proposes demilitarised eastern Ukraine after latest peace talks as three killed in Moscow car blast
An updated 20-point plan to end the war with Russia was agreed by Ukrainian and US officials and sent back to Moscow on Monday, which includes freezing combat along current lines
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suggested that demilitarised zones in eastern Ukraine could be introduced as part of the latest peace proposal with Russia.
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An updated 20-point plan to end the war with Russia was agreed by Ukrainian and US officials in Florida at the weekend and sent back to Moscow on Monday.
The documents include details of freezing combat along current lines, as well as proposals for Ukraine to hold elections and retain its bid to join Nato.
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Moscow has insisted that Ukraine must pull out of almost a quarter of its own territory in the eastern Donetsk region for a peace deal to be agreed.
Ukraine is firmly against withdrawal, so has been working with US negotiators to establish a demilitarised zone or a free economic zone.
"In the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, the line of troop deployment as of the date of this agreement is de facto recognised as the line of contact," the Ukrainian president said.
“A working group will convene to determine the redeployment of forces necessary to end the conflict, as well as to define the parameters of potential future special economic zones."
A "free economic zone" in Ukraine's eastern Donbas was also a potential option, Zelenskyy said.
While the official draft document has not yet been published, Zelensky discussed its contents point-by-point in a briefing with journalists.
It is seen as updated version of the original 28-point document, agreed by US envoy Steve Witkoff with the Russians several weeks ago, which heavily appeased Vladimir Putin's demands.
The latest proposals will also contain additional bilateral agreements between the United States and Ukraine on security agreements and reconstruction.
The updated plans comes after recent talks involving US negotiators with Ukrainian and European leaders in Berlin, followed by further discussions in Miami last weekend.
During the US-based meeting, President Donald Trump's team spoke separately to Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
One of the points suggests that the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant would be jointly operated by Ukraine, Russia, and the US.
“The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant will be operated jointly by three countries — Ukraine, the United States, and Russia … For Ukraine, this sounds very inappropriate and not entirely realistic,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine will not be forced to renounce joining the Nato military alliance, after previous US-backed plans required a legal commitment from Kyiv not to sign up.
“It is the choice of Nato members whether to have Ukraine or not. Our choice has been made. We moved away from the proposed changes to the constitution of Ukraine that would have prohibited Ukraine from joining Nato,” Zelenskyy said.
The new draft would also provide Ukraine with strong security guarantees and a military strength of 800,000.