Zelensky outlines ‘key points of disagreements’ in US peace proposal for Ukraine: What are they?

Ukraine has responded to the 28-point peace proposal sent by the United States to Kyiv and Moscow last month.

After revising the original US plan, Ukraine sent back a 20-point counter proposal to Washington this week, AFP news agency reported. While the full details of the counter-proposal are still not known, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken about the issues which have led to disagreements between Moscow and Kyiv.

Zelensky highlighted that both the sides were stuck on “two key points of disagreement” – the territories which come under Donetsk and everything related to them, and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. “These are the two topics we continue to discuss,” AFP quoted Zelensky as saying.

Speaking about the US plan, Zelensky said, “They see Ukrainian forces leaving the territory of Donetsk region, and the supposed compromise is that Russian forces do not enter this territory…”. The Ukrainian President further said that the US is proposing for the territory to be made a “free economic zone.”

However, Zelensky has voiced discontent over the idea of a unilateral Ukrainian withdrawal from Donetsk. “Why doesn’t the other side of the war pull back the same distance in the other direction?” Zelensky questioned, according to AFP.

Zelensky said that Washington was pushing Kyiv to cede land to Russia, something which he has long been averse to.

The Ukrainian President had earlier said he had no “constitutional” or “moral” right to cede the country’s land. He further said on Thursday that Ukrainian citizens should also have a say on the matter. “Whether through elections or a referendum, there must be a position from the people of Ukraine,” he said.

Under the latest US proposal, Moscow will also stay where it is in the south of the country, but will withdraw some troops from Ukrainian regions that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not claimed to have annexed in the north, AFP reported. This means that Russia would have to give up the territory it has captured in the Kharkiv, Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk regions, according to AFP. Moscow has not yet made a formal territorial claim on these three regions.