A joint Ukrainian-Russian administration was considered for the unoccupied part of Donbas - NYT
During negotiations to end the war, the parties considered several unusual models for the future governance of the Donbas territories that remain under Ukrainian control. Among the options were transferring control to private military contractors, involving Donald Trump's Peace Council, and creating joint Ukrainian-Russian civilian administrations.
This is reported by The New York Times following an interview with the Head of the Presidential Office, Kyrylo Budanov.
According to the outlet, by February the initial 20-point peace plan had effectively narrowed to two key unresolved issues. The first concerned the management of a nuclear power plant under Russian occupation, and the second concerned control over the part of Donbas still held by Ukraine.
The territorial issue involved, in particular, four partially destroyed medium-sized cities and adjacent agricultural areas.
Three governance models were discussed for Donbas
Budanov said that during the negotiation process the parties tried to find models for post-war governance of the disputed Donbas territories.
Among the potential options considered by February was transferring the respective territory to the management of private military contractors. Another model envisaged that it could be governed by the Peace Council created by Donald Trump.
The third option was the formation of joint Ukrainian-Russian civilian administrations.
NYT does not specify which side proposed each of these models, nor does it state that any agreement was reached on any of the options. It was specifically about ideas that were considered during the search for a possible compromise.
Budanov said that during the talks in Abu Dhabi he proposed to the Russian delegation first to define a concrete goal - for example, to develop a compromise mechanism for post-war governance of Donbas - and only then to work on its details.
Budanov opposed giving Russia formal control
At the same time, Budanov stated that he advised President Volodymyr Zelenskyy not to agree to any compromise on Donbas that would allow Russia to claim sovereign control over this territory and raise the Russian flag there.
In his opinion, the actual transfer of these territories to Moscow would mean giving Russia what its army could not achieve on the battlefield.
The territorial issue, along with the future of the occupied nuclear power plant, remained among the main obstacles to advancing the peace plan.
