'Demilitarized zone' that's not what it seems: Media expose hidden pitfall in Washington's Ukraine peace plan
Illustrative photo: The US wants to force only Ukraine to withdraw its troops (Getty Images)
The US peace plan specifies that troops will be withdrawn from demilitarized territories exclusively by Ukraine. The US does not impose such a requirement on the Russian regime, according to the Financial Times.
The media reminds us that Russia and the US are demanding that Ukraine withdraw its troops from 25% of the Donetsk region and the remaining parts of the Luhansk region, where the Armed Forces are holding their defenses. These territories are of great strategic and political importance to Ukraine.
The Donetsk and Luhansk regions together form what locals call Donbas, the article writes. This area, filled with metallurgical plants and coal mines, once served as the industrial center of the Soviet Union.
Kremlin and its desires
The Kremlin is trying to get what it cannot conquer by military means. Surrendering Donbas would mean that the Russian regime could bloodlessly capture the “belt of fortresses” — the fortified cities of Pokrovsk, Kostiantynivka, Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk. In 2025, Ukraine spent a billion dollars to significantly fortify this area.
The problem is that it would be easier for Russia to advance further into Ukraine if its troops were able to capture the Donbas fortifications or obtain these cities as part of the peace plan promoted by the US.
US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, a former real estate agent with little understanding of diplomacy, has been working with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner in recent weeks to literally demand that Ukrainian negotiators accept the land swap imposed by Washington.
This means Ukraine is giving up the areas of Donbas that Russia is still trying to take over, even though they've lost tens of thousands of soldiers just in losses. In return, Ukraine is being offered a “fair peace” and some really vague “security guarantees.”
“Demilitarized zone”
Despite Trump's hysterical statements about “concessions” and “no cards,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains adamant about surrendering Donbas. Experts and analysts in both Ukraine and the West agree with him.
Ukraine's surrender of territory without a fight would mean swallowing a poison pill, the article notes. Most analysts in Ukraine expect that the public reaction to territorial concessions will be harsh.
At the same time, the US is trying to satisfy both Kyiv and the Kremlin. The US plan included a proposal to create a “neutral, demilitarized buffer zone.” But it is planned to create it after the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbas.
Moreover, the zone will be “internationally recognized as territory belonging to Russia,” although theoretically there will be no Russian troops there, at least, that is what the US believes. Such options are unacceptable for Ukraine.
Kyiv sees any demilitarized zone exclusively as a path to a frozen conflict and a prelude to a new war. And Western experts say that any statements and promises made by Russia cannot be trusted — unless Ukraine receives real security guarantees, including Western troops on its territory.
In addition to mistrust, there is the issue of the technical elements of the plan. There is a complete lack of understanding of the situation here.
The proposal does not convey what a demilitarized zone means, given the current dynamics of the battlefield, which is dominated by drones, minefields, and artillery support, Michael Kofman, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Russia and Eurasia Program, explained the problem to the media. It is unclear whether this means a complete withdrawal of troops from Donbas or an equidistant withdrawal of forces from the center line. The question is what demilitarized means in the current context, and how either side will control the presence of small groups of drones capable of flying 20-25 km behind the front line.
Another problem is that surrendering the rest of Donbas will not satisfy Russian president Vladimir Putin. Putin used the Minsk agreements to turn Crimea and Donbas into military bases from which he started the war.
Putin will not stop, Oleksandra Matviichuk, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate from Ukraine, briefly explained to the journalists. He sees Ukraine as a bridge to Europe. He is thinking about his legacy; he wants to restore the Russian Empire.
Ukraine and the US have not yet reached an agreement on the territorial issue. According to sources, Washington is trying to persuade Kyiv to make concessions on Donbas, but the Ukrainian side rejects such proposals.
On December 10, Ukraine submitted its step-by-step response to the latest draft of the US peace plan to the administration of US President Donald Trump. The Ukrainian response contains comments and proposed amendments, in particular regarding the status of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the temporarily occupied territories.
