Ukraine could be divided ‘almost like Berlin after World War II’ as part of a deal to end Russia’s full-scale invasion.
This is what Donald Trump’s envoy to Ukraine has floated as a diplomatic solution, even though it resembles a history lesson from the Cold War.
As Vladimir Putin continues to hold out on accepting a truce, Keith Kellogg suggested that British and French soldiers could adopt zones of control in the west of the country as part of a ‘reassurance force’.
Russia’s army will occupy the east, and between them would be Ukrainian forces and a demilitarised zone.
Kellogg told the Times Ukraine was a big enough country to accommodate several armies seeking to enforce a ceasefire.
‘You could almost make it look like what happened with Berlin after World War Two, when you had a Russian zone, a French zone, and a British zone, a US zone,’ he said.
The US official later clarifying on X that the US would not be providing any troops and added that the force would therefore ‘not be provocative at all’ to Russia.
To make sure that British, French, Ukrainian and other allied forces do not exchange fire with Russian soldiers, Kellogg said a buffer zone would be needed.
‘You look at a map and you create, for lack of a better term, a demilitarised zone (DMZ),’ he said.
‘You have a… DMZ that you can monitor, and you’ve got this… no-fire zone,’ said Kellogg.
But he added: ‘Now, are there going to be violations? Probably, because there always are. But your ability to monitor that is easy.’
The Berlin analogy refers to the post-WWII arrangement where the German capital was carved into sectors controlled by the Allies and the Soviets.
It eventually led to the creation of East and West Berlin – divided by a wall and guarded by checkpoints until the fall in 1989.
Suggesting a similar fate for Ukraine raises questions about how the US views the future of its sovereignty.
Critics also argue such a plan would hardly be a blueprint for any lasting peace in Ukraine.
Kellogg’s comments were met with a stern backlash and he had to clarify his proposal later on X.
He said: ‘I was speaking of a post-ceasefire resiliency force in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty. In discussions of partitioning, I was referencing areas or zones of responsibility for an allied force (without US troops). I was NOT referring to a partitioning of Ukraine.
Britain and France are spearheading talks among a 30-nation ‘coalition of the willing’ on potentially deploying forces to Ukraine.
But the UK ministry of defence described such reports to Metro as ‘pure speculation’.
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