The Times: The US envoy proposes a solution in Ukraine similar to what happened in Berlin after World War II
Post-war Ukraine could resemble “post-World War II Berlin,” with European and Russian forces separated by the Dnieper River, US envoy Keith Kellogg told Britain’s The Times newspaper on Saturday.
More than three years after the outbreak of war following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and with very limited progress toward a truce, several countries, such as France and the United Kingdom, have expressed support for the idea of a European military presence to maintain peace in Ukraine, proposing to become part of it once the conflict ends.
In an interview published by The Times on Saturday, General Kellogg described the situation in Ukraine, saying, “You can almost compare it to what happened in Berlin after World War II, when there was a Russian zone, a French zone, a British zone, and an American zone”.
But instead of the separation wall built in 1961 in the German capital and then demolished in 1989 at the height of the Soviet collapse, the US envoy is thinking of the Dnieper River, a major natural barrier that cuts Ukraine and all the way to Kyiv from north to south.
According to Kellogg, a British-French presence in the form of a “peace-guaranteeing force” west of the Dnieper River wouldn’t be at all provocative for Moscow.
Russian forces would be in the east, with Ukrainian forces in the center.
He stressed that the United States wouldn’t send any armed forces.
Aware that Russian President Vladimir Putin might not accept this proposal, Kellogg also offered to create a demilitarized zone between the Ukrainian and Russian lines to ensure that no exchange of fire occurred.
He explained, “We look at the map and establish a demilitarized zone, with each side withdraws 15 kilometers”.
“This can be monitored quite easily,” he continued, adding, “Will there be violations? Probably, because they always happen”.
