{"id":469209,"date":"2025-12-24T17:16:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T17:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/469209\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T17:16:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T17:16:11","slug":"ukraines-east-could-be-become-a-free-economic-zone-but-the-plan-must-be-put-to-a-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/469209\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine’s east could be become a free economic zone but the plan must be put to a vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that he would be willing to withdraw troops from the country\u2019s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end Russia\u2019s war<\/a>, if Moscow also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized, free economic zone monitored by international forces.<\/p>\n

The proposal marks the clearest indication yet of the compromises the Ukrainian leader would be willing to make on the Donbas region, control of which is a major sticking point in peace negotiations. <\/p>\n

A similar arrangement could be possible for the area around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant<\/a>, which is currently under Russian control, Zelenskyy said. He said that any peace plan would need to be put to a referendum.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy spoke to reporters Tuesday to describe a 20-point overarching plan that negotiators from Ukraine and the U.S. hammered out in Florida in recent days, though he said that many details are still being discussed.<\/p>\n

Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal of its troops from land it has seized. In fact, Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas \u2014 an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk \u2014 the two areas that make up the Donbas.<\/p>\n

Asked about the plan, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Moscow would set out its position based on information received by Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who met with U.S. envoys in Florida over the weekend<\/a>. Peskov declined to share further details.<\/p>\n

American negotiators have engaged in a series of talks with Ukraine and Russia separately since U.S. President Donald Trump presented a plan to end the war last month<\/a> \u2014 a proposal widely see as favoring Moscow, which invaded its neighbor nearly four years ago. Since then, Ukraine and its allies in Europe have worked to pull the plan<\/a> closer to Kyiv\u2019s position.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy said that figuring out control of the Donbas region is \u201cthe most difficult point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the U.S. has proposed creating a consortium with Ukraine and Russia, in which each party would have an equal stake. Zelenskyy countered with a proposal for joint venture between the U.S. and Ukraine, in which the Americans would be able to decide how to distribute their share, including giving some of it to Russia.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy acknowledged that the U.S. has not yet accepted Ukraine\u2019s counterproposals. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not reach a consensus with the American side on the territory of the Donetsk region and on the ZNPP,\u201d Zelenskyy said, using an acronym for the power plant in Zaporizhzhia. \u201cBut we have significantly brought most of the positions closer together. In principle, all other consensus in this agreement has been found between us and them.\u201d<\/p>\n

A free economic zone compromise<\/p>\n

Creating a free economic zone in the Donbas would require difficult discussions on how far troops would be required to move back and where international forces would be stationed, Zelenskyy said, adding that it should discussed at the leaders level.<\/p>\n

The working U.S.-Ukraine draft also proposes that Russian forces withdraw from the Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kharkiv regions. Zelenskyy envisions that international forces could be located along certain points of the contact line within the free economic zone to monitor the implementation of the agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince there is no faith in the Russians, and they have repeatedly broken their promises, today\u2019s contact line is turning into a line of a de facto free economic zone, and international forces should be there to guarantee that no one will enter there under any guise \u2014 neither \u2018little green men\u2019 nor Russian military disguised as civilians,\u201d Zelenskyy said.<\/p>\n

Managing the Zaporizhzhia power plant<\/p>\n

Ukraine is also proposing that the occupied city of Enerhodar, which is the closest city to the Zaporizhzhia power plant, become a demilitarized free economic zone, Zelenskyy said. <\/p>\n

This point required 15 hours of discussions with the U.S., he said, and no agreement was reached. <\/p>\n

For now, the U.S. proposes that the plant be jointly operated by Ukraine, the U.S. and Russia, with each side controlling a 33% stake in the enterprise \u2014 a plan Zelenskyy called \u201cnot entirely realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can you have joint commerce with the Russians after everything?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

Ukraine instead suggested that the plant be operated by a joint venture with the U.S. in which the Americans can determine independently how to distribute the energy from their 50% share.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy said billions in investments are needed to make the plant run again, including restoring the adjacent dam.<\/p>\n

A separate annex for security guarantees<\/p>\n

The working draft ensures that Ukraine will receive \u201cstrong\u201d security guarantees, which would require Ukraine\u2019s partners to act in the event of renewed Russian aggression. That would mirror NATO\u2019s Article 5<\/a>, which says an armed attack on one member of the alliance is an attack on all.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy said that a separate document with the U.S. will outline these guarantees concretely. It will detail the conditions under which security will be provided, particularly in the event of a renewed Russian assault, and will establish a mechanism to monitor any ceasefire. The document will be signed concurrently with the main agreement to end the war, Zelenskyy said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe mood of the United States of America is that this is an unprecedented step towards Ukraine on their part. They believe that they are giving strong security guarantees,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The draft contains other elements including keeping Ukraine\u2019s army at 800,000 during peace time and that Ukraine become a member of the European Union by a specific date. Limiting the size of Ukraine\u2019s military is a key Russian demand. <\/p>\n

Elections and boosting the economy<\/p>\n

The document also proposes accelerating a free-trade agreement between Ukraine and the U.S. The U.S. wants the same deal with Russia, said Zelenskyy.<\/p>\n

Ukraine would like to receive short-term privileged access to the European market and a robust global development package that would include the creation of a development fund to solicit outside investment in Ukraine\u2019s industries.<\/p>\n

Other points include raising funds for Ukraine\u2019s reconstruction, with the goal of attracting $800 billion through equity, grants, loans and private sector contributions.<\/p>\n

The draft proposal also requires Ukraine to hold elections after the signing of the agreement. Zelenskyy\u2019s five-year term was scheduled to end in May 2024, but elections were put off due to Russia\u2019s invasion<\/a>. Russian President Vladimir Putin has seized on that \u2014 though the postponement was legal \u2014 and it has become a source of tension<\/a> with Trump, who has criticized the delay.<\/p>\n

Ukraine is also asking that all prisoners taken since 2014 be released at once, and that civilian detainees, political prisoners and children be returned to Ukraine. Russia illegally seized Ukraine\u2019s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and Ukrainian troops and Moscow-backed forces have been fighting in the Donbas since that year as well. <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow AP\u2019s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/russia-ukraine<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that he would be willing to withdraw troops…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":469210,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[37325,69,57,51,164729,50,80,3658,3657,52,273,3660,274,3656,96,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-469209","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-dmitry-peskov","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-general-news","11":"tag-headlines","12":"tag-kirill-dmitriev","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-russia-government","16":"tag-russia-ukraine-war","17":"tag-top-stories","18":"tag-ukraine","19":"tag-ukraine-government","20":"tag-vladimir-putin","21":"tag-volodymyr-zelenskyy","22":"tag-war-and-unrest","23":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115775680378779817","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}