Zelenskyy on "free economic zone" in Donbas: Ukraine must leave its territory — this is wrong
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy once again spoke out against the creation of a so-called "free economic zone" in Donbas, an idea promoted by the United States as part of efforts to end Russia’s war.
The head of state said this in an interview with The Atlantic, Censor.NET reports.
President’s statement
He stated that, in the context of peace, Russian troops must leave the entire territory of Ukraine.
"But if we want to have a line of contact that does not run through the center of cities, then someone has to pull back. If they say they will pull back and we pull back, this could work in areas where, for example, there is steppe. But in cities, in my opinion, it makes no sense. If we leave, it will be a dead zone. Therefore, I consider this illogical. As for their proposals about a ‘free economic zone’ in Donbas and so on, for us this only means leaving our territory. I see no fairness in this. It is not right," Zelenskyy stressed.
He believes that some Ukrainians would probably be ready to accept any peace terms.
"But we cannot accept Russia’s terms because they can turn around tomorrow and start a new war against us," the president added.
Earlier, he said that "neither Ukraine nor Russia is enthusiastic about the idea of creating a free economic zone in Donbas."
More context
- The United States had proposed the creation of a free economic zone in Donbas as one of the points of a "peace plan."
- Initially, it was proposed that in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, the line of troop deployment as of the date of the agreement would be recognized de facto as the line of contact. Russia would have to withdraw its troops from Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Sumy and Kharkiv regions for the agreement to enter into force.
-
As President Volodymyr Zelenskyy explained, Russia wants Ukraine to withdraw from the Donetsk region, while the United States proposes a compromise — a free economic zone. If there is no agreement on "we stay where we stand," then a free economic zone could only be adopted through a referendum.
