Kremlin dismisses Donbas free economic zone proposal
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The Kremlin on Aug. 25 shot down a U.S.-backed proposal to establish a free economic zone in Ukraine's Donbas as part of a potential peace deal, alleging the region belongs to Russia.
"It is unlikely that any third party could administer Russia's regions," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
Russia views the partially occupied Donbas — an eastern Ukrainian region comprised of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts — as its territory and has incorporated this claim into its constitution.
Moscow's demand that Kyiv cede the areas still under Ukrainian control has become a key sticking point in peace talks, as Ukraine continues to call for a ceasefire along the current front lines.
Peskov's comments come after President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a one-page peace plan drafted by Ukraine, the U.S., and European partners included Washington's proposal for a buffer zone in Donbas.
"In other words, we and the Russians both take equal steps back, creating a buffer called a free economic zone under some kind of administration," Zelensky told journalists during a press briefing over the weekend.
"It is still unclear whose administration, but it would be some kind of third party."
The peace proposal also included a ceasefire and outlined the roles NATO and the EU would play in the effort, Zelensky said, without providing further details.
The president added that he sees a window of opportunity to advance peace talks between the December G20 summit in the U.S. and the end of next summer, when the U.S. presidential election campaign begins.
