Zelenskyy responds to buffer zone proposal in Ukraine, saying it already exists

Ukraine and Russia have long since pulled back their heavy military equipment from the front line by a distance of 10 kilometers. Therefore, a buffer zone effectively already exists, says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a briefing.
Ukrainian leader responded to a Politico article stating that European leaders are considering the possibility of creating a buffer zone between Ukrainian and Russian forces as part of a peace agreement.
“I’ve heard this more than once from Europeans and Americans. Only those who do not understand the technological state of the war today propose a buffer zone of 40-50-60-I even heard a proposal for 100 km. That’s a completely different story. Today, our heavy weapons are already positioned 10+ km apart, because everything is being targeted by drones. This buffer zone, I call it a dead zone, someone calls it a gray zone, it already exists,” Zelenskyy noted.
Ukraine’s President also clarified that if Russia wants the Ukrainian army to stay at a greater distance, Russian soldiers can be pulled back deeper into the temporarily occupied territories.
According to Zelenskyy, drones are effectively destroying everything, so all heavy equipment has long since been withdrawn.
“Look at the front line of the Russian army - where is the armored equipment, the tanks? Zero, nothing is left, no one advances anymore, because everyone loses equipment during the day, at night, at any moment. So this is just unnecessary talk,” the Ukrainian President explained.
Furthermore, Zelenskyy recalled that troop withdrawals had to be negotiated during the Minsk process, but that was a completely different war. At the same time, the disengagement of soldiers from both countries led to nothing.
Buffer zone
According to Politico, the buffer zone option is one of several currently being considered by European leaders.
In particular, according to Europe’s idea, after establishing a demilitarized zone, peacekeepers would be sent there to monitor compliance with the ceasefire.
However, it is still unclear how many peacekeepers would need to be deployed to Ukraine.