Ukraine-Russia ‘demilitarised zone’ floated for peace deal

World
By William

A demilitarized zone between 100 and 120 kilometers wide should be established in Russia’s border area with Ukraine as part of a post-war settlement, an adviser to Ukraine’s presidential office said.

Mykhailo Podolyak, the adviser to the head of the cabinet of the President of Ukraine, said the demilitarized zone should include the Russian regions of Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk and Rostov to protect neighboring areas in Ukraine.

“In order to really secure the residents of the Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk regions and protect them from shelling, it will be necessary to introduce a demilitarization zone of 100 to 120 km,” Podolyak wrote in a statement Monday. tweet.

Such a zone, which cannot be used or occupied by military forces, would likely require “a mandatory international control contingent in the first phase,” Podolyak said.

A demilitarized zone should be a “key subject” of a post-war settlement, said the presidential adviser, who has 1.2 million Twitter followers, adding that such a buffer would “prevent a recurrence of aggression in the future.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross says there are detailed rules for the creation and recognition of demilitarized zones and the concept is not far from hospital zones and other areas considered neutral during conflict.

An aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said on Monday that Ukraine has no interest in a ceasefire that includes Russian territorial gains.

Chief diplomatic adviser Ihor Zhovkva also opposed international peace initiatives from China, Brazil, the Vatican and South Africa, saying the time for mediation with Moscow had passed.

“In this period of open war, we need no mediators. It is too late for mediation,” he said. “There can’t be a Brazilian peace plan, a Chinese peace plan, a South African peace plan when you talk about the war in Ukraine,” Zhovkva said in an interview with Reuters news agency.

Russia has said it is open to peace talks with Kiev, which stalled a few months after the invasion. But Moscow also insists that all talks are based on “new realities”, meaning recognition of the annexation of five Ukrainian provinces it controls in whole or in part – a condition Kiev will not accept.

China has touted a 12-point vision for peace, calling for a ceasefire but not condemning the invasion or requiring Russia to withdraw from occupied territories.

Beijing, which has close ties to the Russian leadership, this month sent top envoy Li Hui to Kiev and Moscow to encourage peace talks.

Zhovkva said the envoy was briefed in detail about the situation on the battlefield, at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the power grid and the transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia, which Kiev says is a Russian war crime.

“He listened very carefully. There was no immediate response…we’ll see. China is a wise country, which understands its role in international affairs,” Zhovkva said.

The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., said Monday China’s foreign ministry had denied a report in the Wall Street Journal that China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs had urged European officials trying to end the war. war in Ukraine before it escalated or consider recognizing Russian-annexed territory in Ukraine.

Mao Ning, spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, denied the report, adding that Ukraine is now at a “critical moment” and that China will continue to work with all sides to resolve the crisis, the institute reported.

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