Ukraine has proposed to the United States the creation of a demilitarized "free economic zone" in Donbas, where American businessmen could invest.
This is an attempt to interest US President Donald Trump, Politico reports, citing two sources familiar with Kiev's proposals.
Politico sources doubt that Russia will agree to this initiative. They explained that Trump sees Ukraine as the weaker and more motivated side in the conflict, mainly because of the recent corruption scandal.
“The White House is using this corruption scandal to put pressure on Zelensky“, one of the sources added to Politico.
The proposal for a free economic zone is contained in a 20-point plan that Kiev presented to Washington. On the evening of December 11, the White House confirmed that Trump had reviewed the document. According to Axios, a meeting of representatives of the United States, Ukraine and key European countries will be held on Saturday to discuss Kiev's proposals.
The Russian side is insisting on the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbas. President Vladimir Putin has said that the region is historically Russian territory and will be returned by military or other means. Putin has previously repeatedly stated that in order to resolve the conflict, the Ukrainian armed forces must withdraw their troops not only from the DPR and LPR, but also from the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, which became part of Russia after referendums held in 2022.
On December 11, Zelensky told reporters that the United States had proposed the creation of a “free economic zone” in Donbas. According to the president, the United States sees a compromise in which Ukrainian troops withdraw from this territory, and Russian troops are not entering. "They don't know who will govern this territory, which they already call a 'free economic zone' or a 'demilitarized zone,'" he said, quoted by Ukrainska Pravda, noting that Ukraine disagrees with this assessment. Zelensky added that Ukrainian citizens should express their opinion on the issue of Kiev leaving the part of Donbas it controls.
According to Politico, Ukraine's European allies are considering sending observation missions and drones to monitor the implementation of a potential peace agreement. During a visit to Washington this week, British Defense Secretary John Healey announced that a coalition of more than 30 countries is ready to guarantee security after the agreements are signed. Russia has previously stressed that it will not accept NATO peacekeepers as a guarantee of security in Ukraine.