Zelensky Says US Offers 'Free Economic Zone' In The East If Ukraine Surrenders Donbas

President Trump sent President Zelensky at the White House on October 17. (Twitter/@WhiteHouse)

JAKARTA - President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday Ukraine had proposed a revised 20-point framework to the United States to end the war with Russia, adding the issue of territorial surrender remains an important point in negotiations.

Speaking to reporters in Kyiv, President Zelensky said the US offered a compromise to create a 'free economic zone' in the eastern part of Ukraine-controlled Donbas, but Russia asked to hand over.

"They see it as a withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk region, and the compromise is that Russian troops will not enter this part of the Donetsk region. They don't know who will rule this region," he said, adding Russia called it a "demilitarized zone," as reported by Al Arabiya from Reuters (12/12).

However, President Zelensky said there was still no common understanding of the issue of territory and the Ukrainian people having to vote on any territorial concessions in the referendum.

Kyiv, in an intense back and forth diplomacy round, is trying to balance the US-backed 28-point plan, which the original version is considered too profitable for Moscow.

President Zelensky added that Russia's withdrawal from a small part of the northeastern region of Kharkiv and Sumy, as well as the southeastern region of Dnipropximsk, was part of the discussion.

The partially occupied contact lines in the southern region of Zaporizhia and Kherson will be frozen in place, he added.

The US also offers the potential for governance with the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest facility and is currently occupied by Russia, which wants to maintain control of the station.

Ukraine has come under increasing US pressure to reach an immediate agreement with Russia, which has stepped up frontline progress in recent months and renewed massive attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

President Zelensky, following President Donald Trump's report, has set a Christmas deadline for Ukraine to accept a peace proposal, saying Washington has not yet given Kyiv a tight deadline.

"I think they really want, or maybe still want, to have a complete understanding of our position with this agreement before Christmas," he said.

In addition to the 20-point framework, the general peace plan will include separate documents on security guarantees, to prevent Russia from attacking again, and about rebuilding Ukrainian cities destroyed by war.

Ukraine, which says it has been let down by previous security guarantees from allies, insists that the guarantee must be ratified in parliament.

President Zelensky said on Thursday he had had "in-depth discussions" on the matter with Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, Defense Minister Pete Hegseth and White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.

Kyiv also wanted to keep a strong army after the fighting ended, and Zelenskyy said the latest draft proposal puts it at 800,000, higher than in the early framework, according to reports.