Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now proposing a demilitarized zone in the Donbas region of his country as a means to draw boundaries for a ceasefire that could lead to a peace deal. The zone would be similar to the 38th Parallel and its famed DMZ marking the lines where the conflict stopped between North and South Korea, never to achieve a peace treaty.
President Trump, in his peace proposal, simply cedes the Donbas region to Russia, even though that country doesn’t even occupy the entire region. The ceding of land has been a bitter pill for Ukrainians to swallow, and their Coalition of the Willing among European nations is asking them to hang tough on any land exchanges.
“We are ready for a meeting with the United States at the leaders’ level to address sensitive issues. Matters such as territorial questions must be discussed at the leaders’ level,” Zelensky said, according toa report in the Wall Street Journal.
Zelenskyy also repeated his stance that any peace proposal, including the latest DMZ proposal, be put before a referendum of voters in his country. Russian-occupied areas excluded.
Meanwhile, Trump’s other project aimed at winning a Nobel Peace Prize is skating on thin ice as well. Israel now claims it may never leave Gaza and even build settlements there. Iranian strikes may also be on its radar.
