Volodymyr Zelensky commented on the idea of withdrawing Ukrainian and Russian troops by 15 kilometers and noted that this was not officially proposed to Ukraine. However, many details are emerging regarding this concept and, according to the president, this idea itself is not alive, because everything depends on monitoring.
"It is unclear from which line we will count: from the border, from which contact line? For example, what is a front? For example, the war began from the territory of Belarus — missiles were flying, that is, deep into Belarus also 15 kilometers?" he said.
But, according to Zelensky, the question arises as to why 15 kilometers, and not deeper. He emphasized that long-range artillery reaches 40 kilometers, and drones fly 50-100 kilometers.
If we talk about a 15-kilometer withdrawal of troops, then there will be no Ukrainian Defense Forces in Kherson — this will mean that "we will not have Kherson".
The President explained: experience since 2014 shows that during the ceasefire, Russian troops "dug in and marched" — 100, 200, 300 meters daily. And that is why the contact line was different from the line of freezing the conflict.
"Now, thousands of people have died to defend Pokrovsk. Pokrovsk is a couple of kilometers away. (...) If we agree to a buffer zone and move 15 kilometers away, cities like Kherson, Kharkiv, and Sumy will all have what seems like peace, but the war will continue in them. Because artillery will reach them".
- The day before, the US President Donald Trumpʼs special representative, Keith Kellogg, said that Ukraine had proposed creating a 30-kilometer demilitarized zone around the front.
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