Khaberni - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Thursday that any potential settlement regarding the territories should be decided by a popular vote, amidst intensifying diplomatic efforts led by the United States to end the ongoing war with Russia for about four years.
Zelensky told a group of journalists, "I believe the people of Ukraine will answer this question. Whether through elections or a referendum, the stance must come from the people of Ukraine."
Zelensky also mentioned that control over the Donetsk region in the country's east and the situation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant remain two main issues unresolved in the negotiations to end the war with Russia.
He told journalists, "The territories of the Donetsk region and everything related to it, in addition to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, are the subjects we continue to discuss" with the United States.
"Free Economic Zone"
Furthermore, Ukrainian President confirmed that the United States is pushing for the establishment of a "Free Economic Zone" devoid of weapons between Ukrainian and Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine as part of the plan to stop the war.
Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv, "They see the Ukrainian forces leaving the territories of the Donetsk region, and the proposed settlement entails that Russian forces would not enter these territories either... which they now refer to as the 'Free Economic Zone'."
Zelensky added, "Russia will not be asked to withdraw from the Donetsk region or from its positions in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south, but it will withdraw its forces from areas in Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Sumy."
