US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that "many would like to see a free economic zone in Donbas.
When asked if he believed a "free economic zone" in Donbas would work. "It's a very difficult task, but it will work and a lot of people want it to work," Trump said in response.
Earlier, Politico reported that Kiev's response to the US plan to resolve the crisis in Ukraine includes a clause calling for the creation of a demilitarized "free economic zone" in Donbas. The Financial Times reported that the US plan to resolve the Ukrainian conflict envisages the demilitarized zone being internationally recognised as Russian territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin noted in September that Moscow had already offered Ukraine to withdraw its troops from Donbas and end the conflict by 2022, but that Ukraine had changed its mind after the Russian military withdrew from Kiev.
In November, Washington proposed a 28-point peace plan for Ukraine. The document caused discontent in Kiev and its partners in Europe, who tried to significantly amend it. On 23 November, the US and Ukraine held consultations in Geneva. Trump later said that the initial US peace plan had been revised to take into account the positions of Moscow and Kiev, leaving only a few controversial issues. US officials then held talks with the Ukrainian delegation in Florida and with the Russian side in Moscow.
On December 8, Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the next day the United States would be presented with a new version of the peace plan developed during his meeting with European leaders, and that "the plan has been reduced from 28 points to 20", and a compromise on the territorial issue "has not yet been reached".
On December 11, ABC News reported that Ukraine had presented the United States with a new version of the 20-point peace plan.