Zelensky Proposes Demilitarized Zone in New Peace Proposal

RedState 

There's a new peace deal on the offering to hopefully end the Russo-Ukrainian War, but it's anyone's guess if Russia's Vladimir Putin will go for it. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is proposing to split the Donbas baby - one of the primary regions in eastern Ukraine, which both sides are fighting for - by establishing a demilitarized zone, removing both Russian and Ukrainian troops.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would be willing to pull troops out of the eastern region of Donetsk and create a demilitarized free economic zone as part of a potential peace deal, provided Russia took similar steps to withdraw from areas it controls.

Zelensky said the proposal and other aspects of a 20-point plan would be put to a referendum.

The territorial dispute across the Donbas, the eastern flank of Ukraine where some of the heaviest fighting is raging, is one of the chief sticking points in the latest version of a plan to end the conflict drafted with the U.S. Kyiv worries that surrendering fortified positions in the area could make it easier for Russia to stage further attacks. Several attempts have already been made to break the impasse, but to no avail.

The Donbas, we might note, is home to as many as three million Russian-speaking people. The only modern census of Ukraine was done in 2001, and at that time recorded over 38 million ethnic Russians in the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts, which include the Donbas region. This is out of a total Ukrainian population approaching 50 million.

Ukraine claims that the United States is willing to go along with the deal, although as of this writing, the Trump administration hasn't said anything about this latest proposal.

Zelensky said Kyiv is now mostly aligned with Washington on the plan, but that Ukraine says a meeting with President Trump is needed to iron out some of the elements. He said he was also ready to explain Ukraine’s position to the Russian side as well.

“We are ready for a meeting with the United States at the leaders’ level to address sensitive issues. Matters such as territorial questions must be discussed at the leaders’ level,” Zelensky said. 

Russia wants Ukraine to withdraw from territories in the Donetsk region as part of a deal to end the war, but Kyiv previously said it has no moral right or constitutional leeway to give up Ukrainian territory. The U.S. is looking for a compromise in creating a “free economic zone” in the area.

This "free economic zone" in President Zelensky's latest proposal would require not just Ukraine, but Russia to withdraw as well.

Given the recent history of negotiations, it doesn't seem likely that Russia's Putin will go for this. Under Putin, Russia hasn't shown much inclination to compromise; the optimism that followed the Alaska Summit fell apart pretty quickly when Russia continued launching artillery, missile, and drone attacks on Ukrainian troops and Ukrainian cities.

A year ago, I pointed out that the best Ukraine could hope for would be a return to the status quo ante 2022; Russia keeps Crimea, Ukraine gets back the land in eastern Ukraine, and both sides return to the 2022 borders. Now, that's looking less and less likely. Ukraine, to get a peace deal, may well have to surrender part or all of the Donetsk region, and perhaps part of the Luhansk region as well. The problem with this is that any peace gained this way will almost certainly be temporary. 

When one feeds a shark, it's not prudent to assume the beast will be content with just one bite.