UKRAINE’S President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on Thursday that the United States was trying to force Ukraine to withdraw its forces from Donetsk region so that it can establish a “free economic zone” as a buffer between his army and Russia’s.

President Zelensky said his country had presented the US with a revised 20-point peace plan in response to the proposals put forward by Washington.

He said any territorial concessions would first need to be put to the Ukrainian people in a referendum.

President Zelensky said: “They see it as Ukrainian troops withdrawing from the Donetsk region and the compromise is supposedly that Russian troops will not enter this part of the region,” adding “they do not know who will govern this territory.”

Mr Zelensky said Russia had described the proposed buffer as a “demilitarised zone” and that the US team was describing it as an “economic free zone.”

He added: “I believe the people of Ukraine will answer this question. Whether through elections or a referendum, there must be a position from the people of Ukraine.”

The full details of the revised plan, cobbled together by Ukraine with the support of the so-called E3 nations — France, Germany and Britain — have not been released.

But President Zelensky said the main issues of contention were over the control of the Donetsk region in the Donbass as well as the future governance of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently under Russian control.

President Zelensky bristled at the idea that Ukrainian troops should withdraw from Donetsk, which is largely controlled by Russia.

“Why doesn’t the other side of the war pull back the same distance in the other direction?”

After talks on Thursday with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and special envoy Steve Witkoff, President Zelensky said that security guarantees were “among the most critical elements for all subsequent steps.”