U.S. offers 'free economic zone' in east if Ukraine cedes Donbas, Zelenskyy says

Ukraine has presented the U.S. with a revised 20-point framework to end its war with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday, adding that the issue of ceding territory remains a major sticking point in negotiations

Ukraine has presented the U.S. with a revised 20-point framework to end its war with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday, adding that the issue of ceding territory remains a major sticking point in negotiations.

Speaking to reporters in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said the U.S. is offering as a compromise to create a “free economic zone” in the Ukraine-controlled parts of the eastern Donbas which Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede.

“They see it as Ukrainian troops withdrawing from the Donetsk region, and the compromise is supposedly that Russian troops will not enter this part of Donetsk region. They do not know who will govern this territory,” he said, adding that Russia is referring to it as a “demilitarized zone.”

However, Zelenskyy said there was still no common understanding on the land issue and that Ukrainians should vote on any territorial concessions in a referendum.

Ukraine strikes Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker in the Black Sea00:32Kyiv, in the latest round of frantic shuttle diplomacy, is seeking to balance out a 28-point U.S.-backed plan whose original version was seen as too favorable to Moscow.