Trump envoy claims Ukraine is prepared to establish 30-kilometre demilitarised zone

Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, has voiced the idea of a demilitarised zone to be controlled by both Ukraine and Russia. He asserts that a 30-day ceasefire could be a decisive issue.

Kellogg believes a way out of the situation could lie in a ceasefire "in place", meaning that both sides would retain control of the territories they currently hold.

"So you tell the Ukrainians ‘Look, this is one of those things that's going to be evolving over time. And if you do a ceasefire in place, the ground that you own, the ground that you fought for, that's your ground right now,’ "Kellogg said on Fox News.

Kellogg then gave examples from the Baltic States after the Second World War and the reunification of Germany, noting that political realities can change over time.

He claimed that Ukraine is ready for a temporary demilitarised zone: Ukrainian forces may withdraw by 15 km, and so would the Russian ones. This would create a 30-kilometre no-fire zone, to be controlled by the military of the "coalition of the willing".

"The Ukrainians are willing to freeze in place, what I call a ceasefire in place. And then for a period of time, they're willing to set up a demilitarised zone. What they basically said is, "we'll back up 15 km, you back up 15 km" to the Russians. So you've got these 30 kilometres that you can actually observe."

"And if you get to 30 days, I really believe this, you get to a 30 day ceasefire, it'll get extended. And it is so hard to do this when you're a military guy, to restart a conflict. And I don't think they will."

Earlier, it was reported that the Trump administration handed over a one-page document to Ukraine in Paris, presented as a "final proposal" for a peace settlement. Among other things, the US is prepared to recognise Russia's control over Ukrainian Crimea and ease sanctions against Moscow.

On 24 April, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the US had presented its strategy for the Ukrainian territories during talks in London, but that after the US proposal, "another paper appeared".

According to Zelenskyy, this was drawn up after a conversation between the Ukrainian delegation, the European team and US representatives in London.

Later, Reuters published the text of the proposals to end Russia’s war in Ukraine which Ukrainian and European officials had handed to the American side during the talks in London.