Description: In an explosive press conference, Ukraine’s president says Washington is privately pressing Kyiv to completely withdraw its forces from Donbas and transform the occupied region into an international “free economic zone” where Russian troops would remain but promise not to advance. Zelenskyy calls it a risky gamble that could permanently gift Putin half the country under the cover of shopping malls and factories.
Kyiv, December 11, 2025 – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dropped a political thunderbolt today, publicly accusing the United States of pushing Ukraine to abandon the parts of Donbas it still controls and convert the entire region into a special economic area with minimal taxes, open borders, and joint administration.
Speaking to reporters on the steps of his office, a visibly tense Zelenskyy said the idea has been repeatedly raised by American negotiators in recent weeks. According to him, the plan would work like this: Ukrainian soldiers leave every inch of Donetsk and Luhansk provinces; Russian forces freeze their current positions and do not move westward; both armies demilitarize a narrow buffer strip; and the whole territory becomes a “free economic zone” – a kind of giant duty-free business park meant to attract investors from Europe, Asia, and the Gulf.
“Imagine Dubai, but built on top of mass graves,” Zelenskyy said bitterly. “They tell us factories will rise, jobs will appear, money will flow. I ask only one question: who will guarantee that Russian tanks won’t simply repaint themselves as ‘security for investors’ six months later?”
The Ukrainian leader stressed that no formal document has been signed and that he personally finds the concept “extremely dangerous.” He added that any decision to cede control – even temporarily or partially – would only happen after a nationwide referendum. “This is not my land to give away,” he said. “It belongs to the people who fought for it, bled for it, and buried their children in it.
Behind closed doors, the proposal is said to have emerged from marathon talks between U.S. special envoy Keith Kellogg, Trump’s national security team, and Russian representatives in Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Sources familiar with the discussions say the White House believes an economic zone could break the military deadlock, bring billions in reconstruction money, and give President Trump a foreign-policy “win” early in his second term.
Critics inside Ukraine are furious. Lawmakers from Zelenskyy’s own party called it “capitulation dressed in a business suit.” Veterans’ groups immediately launched the hashtag #NotOneMeter, which shot to the top of local trending lists. In Kharkiv and Dnipro, small spontaneous protests broke out this evening with people carrying banners reading “Donbas is Ukraine – not a franchise opportunity.”
European leaders have reacted with caution. German Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz said any arrangement must include “iron-clad security guarantees and a clear path to NATO membership,” while French President Macron warned against “freezing the conflict instead of solving it.”
Russia has not officially commented, but Kremlin-linked commentators on state television tonight described the idea as “a step in the right direction” and “proof that reality is finally reaching Kyiv.”
As snow began falling over the capital, Zelenskyy wrapped up his remarks with a direct message to Washington: “We are ready for reasonable compromise, but we are not ready to commit national suicide for the sake of someone else’s beautiful PowerPoint presentation.
Whether this “free zone” concept dies quietly in back-channel talks or becomes the centerpiece of a Trump-brokered deal remains to be seen. For now, millions of Ukrainians – and the soldiers still holding frozen trenches in the east – are left wondering if peace might come at the price of trading their homeland for a shopping mall with no customs duties.
Sources :
- President Zelenskyy’s live press conference (Ukrainian state television Ukrinform)
- Reuters exclusive on U.S. diplomatic proposals
- BBC Ukraine correspondent on-the-ground reporting
- Financial Times analysis of special economic zone models
- Telegram statements from Ukrainian MPs and veteran organizations
- Telegram statements from Ukrainian MPs and veteran organizations
