Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ruled out withdrawing Ukrainian troops from the Donbas region or agreeing to a free economic zone under current conditions, warning that such steps would significantly increase the risk of a renewed Russian invasion.

Speaking after the Munich Security Conference, Zelenskyy said any reduction of Ukrainian or partner military presence in eastern Ukraine could create conditions for Russia to stage provocations and justify a new large-scale assault. He warned that Moscow could exploit instability in the Donetsk region to reignite the war.

Zelenskyy argued that if Russian President Vladimir Putin chose to attack again, Russia could engineer incidents to trigger hostilities, leading to another occupation with devastating losses. He stressed that troop withdrawals or special economic arrangements without firm security guarantees would leave Ukraine vulnerable.

“This option creates major risks,” Zelenskyy said, adding that any future assault could result in widespread occupation and heavy casualties. He emphasized that such scenarios would undermine security guarantees offered to Ukraine and place responsibility on countries that provided them.

The Ukrainian president reiterated that Kyiv will not trade territorial control or troop withdrawals for promises of peace. He described proposals involving concessions in Donbas as unrealistic and dangerous, noting that the presence of foreign forces would not ensure lasting security in areas outside Ukraine’s full control.

At the same time, Zelenskyy clarified that Ukraine remains open to discussions about economic initiatives in the Donbas region. On February 7, he said Kyiv was willing to explore the idea of a free economic zone, provided it does not compromise Ukraine’s sovereignty or imply recognition of Russian control over occupied territories.

The Donbas region has been partially occupied since 2014 and remains a focal point of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, making its future central to any long-term peace settlement.

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Key Takeaways

• Ukraine rejects troop withdrawal from Donbas due to invasion risks.

• Zelenskyy warns Russia could stage provocations to restart war.

• Kyiv may discuss economic zones without conceding sovereignty.

Ukraine rejects Donbas free economic zone over security risks, Zelenskyy says

6 minutes ago, bannork said:

Zelenskyy argued that if Russian President Vladimir Putin chose to attack again, Russia could engineer incidents to trigger hostilities, leading to another occupation with devastating losses.

Russia doesn't need to "engineer incidents or trigger hostilities.

They just need to keep winning.

16 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

Russia doesn't need to "engineer incidents or trigger hostilities.

They just need to keep winning.

Only problem with your theory is that the Russkles are NOT winning.

However, Putin's poodle Trump is trying to force Ukraine to surrender so the Russians could win that way if the Ukrainians are stupid. They're not.

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

Only problem with your theory is that the Russkles are NOT winning.

However, Putin's poodle Trump is trying to force Ukraine to surrender so the Russians could win that way if the Ukrainians are stupid. They're not.

Okay, fine.

Ukraine is winning.

They have the most lost territory, the have the most killed and injured soldaten, and they have the most unelected leadership. Winning!

12 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

Okay, fine.

Ukraine is winning.

They have the most lost territory, the have the most killed and injured soldaten, and they have the most unelected leadership. Winning!

Ukraine invaded Russia.

Ukraine is defending.

Russia has gained only a very small amount of new land in the last YEARS.

They are not in any position to ever take Odessa or Kyiv.

Russia has definitely suffered many more casualties than Ukraine. Estimated about DOUBLE.

Of course the social effect on Ukraine is magnified because of a much smaller population. War is hell. Maybe tell your buddy Putin the genocidal war criminal to knock it off.

Putin doesn't have real elections so he's 100 percent a dictator.

Zelinskyy was freely elected and under their constitution they can't hold a new election while in a state of war.

Why do you LIE so much?

22 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Ukraine invaded Russia.

Ukraine is defending.

Russia has gained only a very small amount of new land in the last YEARS.

They are not in any position to ever take Odessa or Kyiv.

Russia has definitely suffered many more casualties than Ukraine. Estimated about DOUBLE.

Of course the social effect on Ukraine is magnified because of a much smaller population. War is hell. Maybe tell your buddy Putin the genocidal war criminal to knock it off.

Putin doesn't have real elections so he's 100 percent a dictator.

Zelinskyy was freely elected and under their constitution they can't hold a new election while in a state of war.

Why do you LIE so much?

Shirley, if you simply keep repeating your talking points, they're bound to come true, someday, somehow.

6 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

Shirley, if you simply keep repeating your talking points, they're bound to come true, someday, somehow.

Low level ad hominem garbage.

1 hour ago, NoDisplayName said:

Okay, fine.

Ukraine is winning.

They have the most lost territory, the have the most killed and injured soldaten, and they have the most unelected leadership. Winning!

Classic false dichotomy:

Russia is winning, or Ukraine is winning.

No one is winning.
Ukraine’s losses are a tragedy.

Putin is bogged down in a 12-year old war —
a war he cannot afford to stop,
and cannot afford to lose.

War spending is propping up his economy.

The war feeds the economy.
The economy feeds the war.

He’s trapped.

Most probable outcome?

A prolonged stalemate that hardens into a frozen conflict —
unless US or NATO support materially shifts the balance.

I think it is fair to say that NEITHER side is winning.

I do think Ukraine still has a small level of the advantage of momentum.

If they can make it through this winter, the level will increase.

Nobody is predicting that Ukraine is capable of taking back the stolen lands.

They're looking at a long term situation where there remains hope decades later, a la East Germany, the Baltics, etc.

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I think it is fair to say that NEITHER side is winning.

I do think Ukraine still has a small level of the advantage of momentum.

If they can make it through this winter, the level will increase.

Nobody is predicting that Ukraine is capable of taking back the stolen lands.

They're looking at a long term situation where there remains hope decades later, a la East Germany, the Baltics, etc.

Russia is winning. I thought that was obvious.

1 minute ago, JimCM said:

Russia is winning. I thought that was obvious.

I see that the HAMAS supporter sides with Russia. The Germans invaded Russia in June 1941, and four years later, the USSR was in Berlin. Russia has been struggling in its attempts to conquer Ukraine for four years. Russia is a joke.

2 hours ago, NoDisplayName said:

Russia doesn't need to "engineer incidents or trigger hostilities.

They just need to keep winning.

What are they winning?

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7 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I think it is fair to say that NEITHER side is winning.

I do think Ukraine still has a small level of the advantage of momentum.

If they can make it through this winter, the level will increase.

Nobody is predicting that Ukraine is capable of taking back the stolen lands.

They're looking at a long term situation where there remains hope decades later, a la East Germany, the Baltics, etc.

Both sides are dependant on external support to stay in the fight. Russia is utterly dependant on China buying Russian oil, and in return, stuffing the Russian economy with tat to give a mirage that things are hunky dory. Ukraine has taken a Euro 90bn loan, out of which Euro 60 bn can be spent on weapons. The loan is intended to be repaid on the conclusion of hostilities through Russian reparations. The annual cost of servicing the loan is met from frozen Russian sovereign assets. China views the war as bad for business. Pivoting Iran away from Russia and towards China might be significant.

The future is bleak for Russia. It has turned into a vassal economy. Russia supplies raw materials, and in return takes manufactured goods. This is the situation most of the 3rd World found itself during the Cold War. The stolen lands represent a pyrrhic victory. These are destroyed lands, where GDP has collapsed. Infrastructure is severely degraded. International pressure will assume the only money going into these lands will be Russian taxpayer money. The Donbas will bleed Russia dry. In the end, the Russians won't want it.

https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4723649-russia-is-now-a-chinese-colony-while-still-foolishly-dreaming-of-empire/mlite/

https://warontherocks.com/2026/02/the-chinese-yoke-russias-return-to-vassalship/

https://www.ryanjhite.com/2025/11/29/is-russia-becoming-a-vassal-of-china/

https://jamestown.org/russia-kowtows-to-china/

Its the last European Empire to collapse. The Russian Federation might not see out even the decade. In order for Russia to have any chance of surviving in its current borders, Putin must be defeated.

https://smallwarsjournal.com/2025/09/16/strategic-forecast-russia-collapse-risk/

Russia has occupied roughly 20% of Ukraine in three years and six months of conventional combat. Being conservative with approximate midpoints in ISW and Economist casualty figures above, Russia suffered roughly one million casualties with 250,000 dead in three years of war in Ukraine. To achieve President Putin’s imperial ambitions Russia would have to conquer the other 80% of Ukraine.

At the rate of conquest to date, Russia would need twelve more years to take the remaining 80% of Ukraine with intervening culminations of Russian troop formations likely slowing progress while being required to hold occupied areas lest an insurgency retake them. If it took three years for Russia to amass 1,000,000 casualties and 250,000 killed, the same loss rate over 12 more years suggests Russian casualties could swell to 5 million with 1,000,000 killed. Russia’s human capacity issues are already critical and moving toward a disaster scenario. Even if we cut the extrapolated losses by half, the Russian state and economy cannot afford 2.5 million more casualties with 500,000 more killed.........

.......Our estimate that Putin must be defeated in Ukraine by the Fall of 2026 to avert Russia’s collapse implies that if Putin’s war enters its fifth year in 2027, the personnel vulnerability scores in Russia will go from critical to breakdown. This, as two more years of warfare in Ukraine could mean 2/3 of roughly 1,000,000 more casualties, and 2/3 of some 250,000 more deaths at about 660,000 casualties and 166,666 deaths.

None of this includes morbidity and mortality from COVID-19’s ongoing effects, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and the morbidity, mortality, and mental health issues confronting survivors of war. Nor does it speak to the loss of younger generations who would have helped take care of their elders, creating new social spending issues for the government. Nor is there an appreciation for how the tax base will shrink when it is most needed to grow to cover the Russians’ post-war and aging population’s costs.

The likelihood of Russian emigres returning to be conscripted into the Russian military or punished for emigrating is low. And male war deaths mean the single mother population will also increase in Russia as in Stalin’s time, driving more families into poverty that may require state aid. Russian women will then carry a burden to care for the young and old, taking a toll on the people who tend to keep the Russian social fabric together.

With such degrading forces at work inside Russia, we arrived at the 70% risk of political economic collapse by 2029 if Russia continues the war on Ukraine into 2027.

Cucumbers for the price of Avocados. Imagine that.

Russia made a cardinal mistake invading Ukraine and thinking it will be over within 10 days. He is now trapped in a war he cannot win bur dare not end. War is expensive and Russia simply has no money to continue the war. Meanwhile Ukraine has solid financial backing from the coalition of the willing. Russia economy is on the brink of collapse and has a depleted reserves and an unsustainable war spending. Ukraine has well extensive deeply fortified trench network particularly in the East that has stopped every Russia attempt to extend their Eastern boundaries. Putin is not trust worthy for any form of agreement. Zelensky has the upper hand and he should not cede any territories to Putin.

Russia needs to be defeated to save Russia.

Russia in WW1 initially experienced disaster. In 1916, they had some success, but morale in the Russian Army was disintegrating. At home, the Russian economy was disintegrating. Government debt went through the roof. Compounding that, trade collapsed because the Ottomans blockaded the Dardenelles. Russia struggled ship out goods via its northern ports, forcing it to buy American icebreakers. The economy transformed to a war footing, but experienced labour shortages, with the result of non-Russians being recruited. There was rampant inflation, and a disintegrating rail network, leading to strikes and widespread protest. This lead to revolution and the subsequent collapse of the Russian empire into independant republics, later Soviets.

It's happening again. The war started because of the Russian leadership's paranoia, stoked by the Leader's morbid feat of COVID (leading to relative isolation). But the irony is that the war might be the catalyst for the collapse of the Russian Federation a remment of the Russian empire. Its the last act of the cataclysmic events that started 111 years ago. But its unpredictable what follows, just like October 1917 heralded decades of misery.