Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
The U.S. special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellog, admit that Putin is the main obstacle in reaching an agreement.
The U.S. special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellog, admit that Putin is the main obstacle in reaching an agreement.
Ukraine suggests bufferzone
Ukraine has suggested pulling their troops back 15 Kilometres (more than 9 miles) in order to create a demilitarized zone jointly controlled by Ukraine and Russia, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellog, told Fox News in an interview.
Third party observers
Kellog further explained that the demilitarized zone would be a 30 kilometer (18.6 miles) area without troops from Ukraine or Russia. Instead, the zone would be monitored by observers from third party countries.
Would freeze the front
The point of the demilitarized zone would be to “freeze” the front, meaning Ukraine and Russian would maintain control of the territory, the countries currently occupy.
Putin’s demands
The Ukrainian proposal is not likely to be supported by Russia, as it contrasts with Vladimir Putins demands. These include a totalt Ukrainian withdrawal of troops from the four Eastern Ukraine regions Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblast, currently under partial Russian control.
Not likely to accept
Kellogg said in the interview: “I think we’re close. The one man who can deliver it, I believe, is President (Donald) Trump, as long as Putin agrees. And that’s one of our, probably our, impediments to progress — the president of Russia right now not agreeing to it.”
Spokesperson: “Moscow haven’t received any proposal”
Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said tha Moscow had not recieved any proposals regarding the establishment of a demilitarized zone.
Rejected 30-day ceasefire
On March 11th, Kyiv accepted a U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire. Moscow, on the other hand, rejected the proposal and instead listed a number of demands to be met for Russia to accept a ceasefire.
No U.S. military aid since January
Trump took office in January 2025, and since then, the President has not approved any new military aid for Ukraine. The pledge to end the war withing 24 hours failed quickly, and was later extended to a promise of peace within the firest 100 days of office – which has also failed.
Threatening to leave
Moscow’s refusal to de-escalate the conflict is said to have sparked frustration in the Trump administration. No new sanctions have been imposed on Moscow, though. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump has previously warned that the U.S. would withdraw from medition due to lack of progress.