Russia says Kiev's demilitarised zone proposal is disconnected

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
29 May 2023 21:55

Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, proposes a plan to implement a demilitarized zone spanning 100 to 120 kilometers between Russia and Ukraine.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a political adviser to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaks at an interview in Kiev, Ukraine, November 2, 2022. (Reuters)

Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the Ukrainian President, announced his intentions to create a demilitarized zone spanning 100 to 120 kilometers (62-74 miles) along the Russian regions that border Ukraine.

"The key topic of the post-war settlement should be the establishment of safeguards to prevent a recurrence of aggression in the future. To ensure real security for residents of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, and Donetsk regions and protect them from shelling, it will be necessary to introduce a demilitarization zone of 100-120 km," Podolyak tweeted.

The Ukranian official proposed that this zone should be established within Russia's Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, and Rostov regions, potentially under international supervision in the early periods of its establishment.

Moscow responded through Sputnik saying that the proposed plan sheds light on the complete disconnect of Ukrainian officials and their persistent hostile intentions.

This announcement builds upon the discussions held in late February, when Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of Ukrainian military intelligence, mentioned the possibility of creating a security zone stretching up to 100 kilometers deep into Ukrainian territory along the 1991 border with Russia.

In December 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a resolution to the Ukrainian conflict depended on Russia's withdrawal of troops from the 1991 borders.