Ukraine Awaits Russia’s Response on New Peace Plan; Territory Issue Remains Unresolved

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky indicated that he anticipated a response on Wednesday by Moscow to the most recent draft offer which would finish the war, one that Washington and Kyiv had finalized.

“We will receive the Russian response after the American side speaks with them,” Zelensky told reporters.

He was talking when he outlined the new 20-point program that came about through the conferences that had been convened in Miami during the weekend.

He also told that much agreement was reached in peace dialog with US but territory is other unresolved issue in peace talks, AFP reported. The peace plan will be introduced to Russia by the US on December 24.

According to Zelensky, the updated strategy to stop the Russian invasion would stall the already existing front line, although it would not exclude the possibility of Ukrainian troops retreating and creating demilitarised areas.

His proposal of creating a demilitarised zone was conditional upon Russia withdrawing its forces in an equivalent piece of land in Donetsk.

The framework touches upon an extensive set of issues, such as the potential territorial arrangements, the security guarantees that Kyiv is seeking to prevent in the future to curb future Russian aggression, and the steps to restore the war-torn country.

Although the Kremlin cannot be predicted to relinquish its hardline territorial claims any time soon, Zelensky has admitted that there are parts of the document that he is not even willing to agree with.

Nevertheless, Kyiv seems to have managed to take the proposal out of an earlier 28-point US proposal that had mirrored many of the fundamental demands of Russia.

He mentioned that 20-point proposal reached between US and Ukrainian negotiators are now undergoing a review by Moscow.

What are the reforms suggested by Kyiv?

That previous text had requested Ukraine to retreat over the 20 percent of the Donetsk region that it still controlled and official recognition of Russian-occupied territory as a part of Russia.

The stipulation that Ukraine be legally obligated to withdraw its applications to join NATO has been also eliminated in the most recent version, even though the United States has stated several times that it has no intention of accepting Ukraine into the alliance.

“In the Donetsk, Lugansk, 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,” Zelensky said while describing the updated proposal.

“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,” he added.

Kyiv leaves the door to additional negotiations

The comments were released early in the morning on Wednesday, and Zelensky provided some information about the 20-point plan during a briefing with journalists in Kyiv on Tuesday.

The proposal seems to keep open to but postpone interventions that Ukraine had already been resistant to, such as troop withdrawals and establishment of demilitarised zones.

“We are in a situation where the Russians want us to withdraw from the Donetsk region, while the Americans are trying to find a way,” Zelensky said.

“They are looking for a demilitarised zone or a free economic zone, meaning a format that could satisfy both sides,” he added.

Ukraine has further proposed that the Russian-occupied city, where the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is located, Energodar, can be declared a demilitarised zone.

According to Zelensky, a plan that would involve Ukrainian troops withdrawals would have to pass a national referendum.

“A free economic zone. If we are discussing this, then we need to go to a referendum,” he said.

The plan also suggests that Zaporizhzhia power plant, which Russia currently occupies, should be managed by the US, Ukraine and Russia suggesting that it should have no oversight role in it, although such an idea has been expressed by Zelensky.

He also said that Ukraine will not have presidential elections till signing an agreement to stop the conflict.