Creation of 40-km economic zone under Trump's "Board of Peace" being considered at Geneva talks – UP

The creation of a 40 km free economic zone on buffer territory under the possible management of the "Board of Peace" initiated by US President Donald Trump has been discussed during the third round of talks in Geneva on ending the war in Ukraine with the participation of Russia and the US.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda article (translation coming soon)

Quote: "None of the sides is disclosing the exact details and nuances of the talks. However, according to Ukrainska Pravda, at the last meeting in Geneva, they discussed the possibility of disengagement of forces and the creation of a free economic zone on buffer territory."

Details: According to Ukrainska Pravda's sources in European political circles, during a meeting with leaders of the Coalition of the Willing at the Munich Security Conference, Zelenskyy voiced different options for the disengagement of troops in Donbas, up to a synchronised withdrawal to 40 kilometres from the line of contact.

"Although for now it is difficult even to imagine how to implement such a scenario. As is the so-called 'Board of Peace', which was presented with such fanfare by the American leader last week, could oversee the economic zone (FEZ) project. At least such ideas were also voiced in the negotiations," UP says.

The authors of the article note that in essence the idea of a FEZ under US management is somewhat reminiscent of a mix of solutions that the current US administration has already applied in the Azerbaijani-Armenian and Israeli-Palestinian settlements.

Background:

- On 20 February, Zelenskyy reported an agreement on a new round of trilateral talkson ending the war in Ukraine within the next 10 days. - On the morning of 18 February, the second day of Ukraine-US-Russian talksin Geneva began on the settlement of Russia's war against Ukraine. - Later, Vladimir Medinskyi, the head of the Russian delegation, stated that the latest round of trilateral talks had ended. He said the negotiations in Geneva had lasted about two hours and were " difficult but businesslike". - Zelenskyy reportedthat it was agreed at the talks that the US will be involved in monitoring compliance with a ceasefire. - He then added that political issues regarding possible compromises and the necessary meeting between leaders had not been sufficiently addressed in the talks on ending the war.

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