Kyiv–Washington 20-Point Draft Floats Demilitarised Donbas & Joint Zaporizhzhia Control

Great-power peace formulas that trade security guarantees for territorial ambiguities have a long pedigree: the 1953 Korean Armistice drew a DMZ without a treaty, and the 1995 Dayton Accords froze Bosnia’s front lines under NATO supervision. Zelenskyy’s draft echoes both—cementing a status quo he cannot militarily reverse while importing Western capital much like the 1948–52 Marshall Plan. Yet history also warns that demilitarised zones can become tripwires (see the 1936 remilitarisation of the Rhineland) if enforcement wavers. Structurally, this initiative reflects two trends: Washington’s outsourcing of diplomacy to semi-private actors and its coupling of peace with investment opportunities, and Russia’s pattern, from Transnistria to Abkhazia, of accepting ‘frozen conflicts’ only when it dictates terms. Whether this moment matters a century from now hinges on one question: does it mark the start of a Korean-style cold standoff on Europe’s edge, or merely another Minsk-like pause before the guns resume? If the latter, the plan will be footnote; if the former, today’s draft could delineate Europe’s de facto borders for decades.