NYT reported on Ukraine's refusal to withdraw troops from Donbass

The Ukrainian leadership has presented a counter-proposal for a peaceful settlement, which rejects key points of the plan of US President Donald Trump, in particular the withdrawal of troops from Donbass and the refusal to join NATO. This was reported on December 12 by The New York Times (NYT), citing sources familiar with the document.

"The Ukrainian plan to end almost four years of fighting <... It is part of a Ukrainian attempt to thwart Mr. Trump's demand, made last month, that Ukraine ensure peace by ceding land," the article says.

According to the newspaper, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that the proposal includes three documents, one of which provides legally binding security guarantees from the United States and European countries. According to him, this document should be submitted to the US Congress.

It is clarified that American negotiators have already begun to insist on changes in the Ukrainian proposals, in particular, putting forward the idea of creating a "free economic zone" in the Ukrainian-controlled part of Donbass, where neither Ukrainian nor Russian troops will be present.

White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said Trump was "extremely disappointed" by the conflict and did not want negotiations, but action to end it.

Sabotage demand: Kiev will again try to accuse Russia of disrupting negotiations

What else is Zelensky trying to achieve with his statements about elections and a truce?

On the same day, L'antidiplomatico stated that Zelensky, with his statements about a possible referendum on territorial issues, was disrupting the peace process. The publication also draws attention to the fact that the new US peace initiative, presented as a "realistic compromise" and envisioning the creation of a neutral "free economic zone" in Donbass, was immediately rejected by Kiev.

On the same day, the Bild newspaper reported that US President Donald Trump was showing strong pressure on Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, seeking to obtain territorial concessions from him on Donbass. Despite this, the US presidential administration assessed Zelensky's words about a possible referendum on a peace agreement, including territorial concessions, as a sign of progress in the negotiations.

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