ceding or keeping Donbass; Zelensky’s difficult dilemma

According to RCO News Agency, according to the peace plan preseed by the United States, Ukraine must withdraw from parts of the Donbass that is still under its corol, and in return, after the end of the war, receive general and not very specific security guaraees, but this proposal has faced strong resistance both among Ukrainian politicians and the people of this coury.

According to Le Monde’s report, the peace talks are moving faster these days. Ukrainian Preside Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Tuesday after his short trip to London, Brussels and Rome that he has se a revised version of US Preside Donald Trump’s peace plan to Washington. This new version – which has not yet been published – was prepared in consultation with his European allies. Meanwhile, the preside of Ukraine is under serious pressure from Trump to accept the agreeme as soon as possible, which was considered to be detrimeal to Kiev. An official source also told the Financial Times that Trump hopes to finalize an agreeme by Christmas.

According to the American plan, Ukraine should withdraw its forces from the eastern region of Donbas; A region that Russia has declared as one of its main goals since the beginning of the war. Preside “Vladimir Putin” once again said that if Ukraine is not ready to hand over Donbass, Russia will corol these areas “by force”.

But the reality on the ground is that despite the rece advances, the Russian army has not been able to capture the whole of Donetsk – which together with Luhansk forms the Donbass – in the last three and a half years. For this reason, Zelensky has always opposed the idea of ​​surrender without resistance. Zelensky also emphasized on Monday night: “There is no doubt that Russia was us to give up part of our regions, but we do not iend to give up anything.” This principle is the reason for our fighting.”

He said that neither legally nor morally is it allowed to leave the areas where about 200 thousand people still live.

Volodymyr Fesenko, a political science expert and director of the “Pea” political studies ceer in Kyiv, said: “Such a decision by Zelensky will be seen inside Ukraine as a capitulation to Russia.”

He believes that if the Preside of Ukraine is forced to withdraw, “this could create a wave of widespread protests and even the risk of a deep political crisis.”

Fesenko reminded that any peace agreeme must finally be approved by the Ukrainian parliame. Currely, almost all the coury’s political fros are against the withdrawal of troops from Donbass without receiving clear security guaraees from America and Europe; Guaraees that should preve possible Russian attacks after the end of the war.

Referring to Washington’s pressure on the Ukrainian preside, Volodymyr Arif, a represeative of Zelensky’s critic, said: “The Americans think they can use the weakened Zelensky, but the final decision rests with the parliame.”

He emphasized that this coury cannot give up even one meter of its soil; Because this can lead to demands in other areas. He referred to areas such as Kherson and Zaporizhia; The two southern regions, which Russia only owns a part of, but claims full sovereigy over them from September 2022.

Zelensky’s insistence on not handing over stems more from general seime in Ukrainian society than anything else; A society that, despite being worn out after nearly four years of war, is still against the idea of ​​ceding territories. About 71 perce of people “strongly” disagree with the issue, according to a poll by the Kyiv Iernational Institute of Sociology (KIIS), although this figure is down slightly from May and June polls (78%).

According to Aon Grochetskyi, director of KIIS, the only way Zelensky can convince the parliame to withdraw from Donbass is to provide very strict security guaraees from the West: “If the guaraees are 100% guaraeed that Russia will never attack Ukraine again, then maybe the parliame can agree to the withdrawal of troops from Donbass.”

For Ukrainians, handing over a region that Russia has not been able to fully capture in three and a half years despite heavy losses, is considered to be the loss of the coury’s first line of defense. This area is one of the most fortified parts of the fro and is protected by a network of fortified towns and villages, open fields and deep ai-tank ditches.

Yehor Chernov, a represeative of the ruling party and the Parliameary Committee on Security and National Defense of Ukraine, said: “The Russians are trying to convince our allies that they have enough resources to completely capture Donbass, but they have been fighting for these strong areas for years and have not succeeded. Handing over these areas means opening the way for Russia’s future advances.”

Arif believes that the only way to preve such a danger is to create a neutral and civilian buffer zone; A proposal that was also proposed in Donald Trump’s 28-poi plan. However, he warned that even with strong security guaraees, such a “compromise solution” could lead to serious divisions within the coury: “Part of the military will never forgive this.”

In addition to the military aspect, the moral aspect of the issue is also heavy for the Ukrainians. Hundreds of thousands of people have fought to defend this region and many have lost their lives or their homes. Grochetsky explained in this regard: “Many were killed there or lost everything. That’s why we can’t just get out of there.”

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