Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin's foreign policy aide, said on the 14th (local time) that there had never been any discussion of a Korean Peninsula-style solution in connection with peace talks to end the war in Ukraine.
According to TASS and RIA Novosti, Ushakov said in an interview that day with state TV journalist Pavel Zarubin, "We discussed various options for a long-term solution, but the possibility of copying a Korean-style option has absolutely never been discussed."
Earlier, Western outlets including the Washington Post (WP) and the Financial Times (FT) reported that a plan had been discussed to turn the eastern battlegrounds of Russia and Ukraine into a Korean Peninsula-style demilitarized zone (DMZ). In response, Russia strongly denied it, saying, "It has never been discussed even once. We have never heard of such a thing."
Meanwhile, the U.S. administration of Donald Trump is shuttling between Russia and Ukraine to mediate peace talks. President Trump was reported to be pressing Ukraine to accept a peace plan that recognizes the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine as Russian territory.
Ukraine is strongly opposed. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, told reporters on the 9th (local time), "We clearly do not want to give up anything. Whether under our (Ukraine's) law, international law, or moral norms, we have no right to give up anything."
In the face of Ukraine's opposition, the United States has recently brought forward a revised proposal to designate the Donbas region, which Ukraine is occupying, as a "free economic zone" or a "demilitarized zone," a type of special administrative area. However, Ukraine also reacted negatively to this plan.