The document will be supplemented by additional bilateral agreements between the US and Ukraine on security agreements and reconstruction.
Zelensky did not publish a draft of the document, but outlined the plan's contents point-by-point in a briefing with journalists in Kyiv.
According to the CNN, the draft 20-point agreement represents a slimmed-down version of an original 28-point plan the US previously discussed with the Russian side. In his remarks, Zelensky outlined what the Ukrainian side says would be an acceptable compromise for withdrawing its troops from portions of the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine that are currently not held by Russian forces.
That area includes the “fortress belt” of fortified Ukrainian cities such as Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in Donetsk region that currently stand in the way of any potential Russian advance deeper into the heart of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Ukraine must effectively cede all of Donetsk for a peace plan to work.
Detailing his country’s position, the Ukrainian president said Russia would have to engage in a withdrawal of its forces equivalent to ground ceded by Ukrainian troops, effectively establishing a demilitarized zone around some of the present front lines.
“If we establish a free economic zone here, and it envisages a virtually demilitarized zone, – meaning heavy forces are removed from this area – and the distance, for example, is 40 kilometers (it could be five, 10, or 40 kilometers) – then if these two cities, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, are our free economic zone, the Russians would have to pull back their troops accordingly by five, 10, or 40 kilometers,” Zelensky said.
MNA
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