— I think the Ukrainian people will answer this question. Whether through elections or a referendum, the decision must be the Ukrainian people, Zelensky told reporters in kyiv, reaffirming the position he has held throughout the war that he has no right to cede the country’s territories by constitutional force.
The return of territories to Russia, including areas that have not yet been militarily conquered by Moscow, is one of the main bottlenecks in the peace plan currently under negotiation, with American mediation. The Ukrainian president directly mentioned two specific points: the transfer of Donetsk, an important industrial and mining center in the east of the country, and the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
— We have two main points of contention: the Donetsk territory and everything related to it, and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. These are the two issues we are still discussing,” said Zelensky, who presented a revised version of the peace plan in Washington on Wednesday.
kyiv said it would not disclose details of changes to the current version until it receives a U.S. response. The president, however, discussed certain details of the text sent by Washington, citing points that are still controversial from the Ukrainian point of view.
One point Zelensky cited was the withdrawal of the Ukrainian army from Donetsk to create a demilitarized “free economic zone.”
— (The Americans) are planning the departure of Ukrainian forces from the territory of the Donetsk region, and the supposed agreement is that Russian forces will not enter this territory (…) which they already call the “free economic zone,” he said.
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