Zelenskyy revealed details of the ongoing discussions before he headed into urgent talks Thursday with leaders and officials from about 30 countries that support Kyiv’s efforts to obtain fair terms in any settlement to halt nearly four years of fighting.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine submitted a 20-point plan to the U.S. on Wednesday, with each point possibly accompanied by a separate document detailing the settlement terms.
“We are grateful that the U.S. is working with us and trying to take a balanced position,” Zelenskyy told reporters in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. “But at this moment it is still difficult to say what the final documents will look like.”
Russia has in recent months made a determined push to gain control of all parts of Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk, which together make up Ukraine’s valuable Donbas industrial region.
Ukraine doesn’t accept the surrender of Donbas, Zelenskyy said, saying that both sides remaining where they currently stand along the line of contact would be “a fair outcome.”
American negotiators have put forward the possibility of a “free economic zone” in the Donbas, with the Russians terming it a “demilitarized zone,” according to Zelenskyy.
Russian officials have not publicly disclosed their proposals.
U.S. negotiators foresee Ukrainian forces withdrawing from the Donetsk region, with the compromise being that Russian forces do not enter that territory, Zelenskyy said.
But he said that if Ukraine must withdraw its forces, the Russians should also withdraw by the same distance. There are many unanswered questions, including who would oversee the Donbas, he added.
The Russians want to retain control of the Zaporizhzhia plant in southern Ukraine, which is not currently operating, but Ukraine opposes that.
The Americans have suggested a joint format to manage the plant, and negotiators are discussing how that might work, Zelenskyy said.
