Decision in the Ukraine war? Zelensky ready to make a concession

Zelenskiy announced a trip to the USA for Sunday. “A lot can still be decided by the New Year,” he wrote on the Telegram and X networks. He did not give an exact date. An official confirmation from the White House was pending Friday afternoon. The Kiev newspaper “Kyiv Post” reported, citing diplomatic sources, that the meeting could take place on Sunday (December 28) in Mar-a-Lago. “Axios” also named this date, citing Ukrainian sources.

According to Axios, a meeting would mean a significant rapprochement between the US and Ukraine. Trump had previously said he only wanted to meet with Zelensky if a deal was within reach. In an interview with “Politico” on Friday, Trump emphasized that nothing had been agreed yet. Zelensky “has nothing at all until I confirm it.” The US President also said that he expected a conversation with Kremlin boss Putin soon.

Zelensky spoke on the phone with Trump’s special envoy

Zelenskiy wrote that his chief negotiator Rustem Umjerov had informed him of recent contacts with the Americans. “We are not wasting a single day. We have agreed to a high-level meeting with President Trump in the near future.” Zelenskiy was quoted as saying that the 20-point peace plan was 90 percent complete in a chat with journalists. “Our task now is to complete everything 100 percent.” The conversation with Trump could lead to the desired goal.

On Thursday, Zelenskiy spoke with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Some documents are almost finished, others are fully prepared, Zelensky explained. Witkoff and Kushner had negotiated with Putin about the conditions for peace in Moscow. However, according to Zelensky, sensitive issues such as territorial cessions must be discussed at the level of heads of state.

Before the planned meeting, Zelensky also agreed with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “We are coordinating our positions and everyone in Europe must pull together to defend our European way of life, the independence of our states and peace in Europe. There must be peace,” wrote Zelensky on the X platform. Merz responded to The “Berlin Group” is ready to help – in close coordination with the US partners.

Russia accuses Ukraine of “torpedoing” talks

The Russian government, however, accused Kiev of wanting to “torpedo” talks about the US plan. A revised version of the US plan presented by the Ukrainian government a few days ago is “radically different” from the text that Moscow negotiated with Washington, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Russian television on Friday.

Ukraine and its supporters – above all the EU, which is “not in favor of an agreement” – have “increased their efforts to torpedo it,” said Ryabkov. “Without an adequate solution to the problems that led to this crisis, it will simply be impossible to reach a final agreement,” emphasized the Deputy Foreign Minister. Any proposals would have to stay within the limits set at the summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska in August.

Putin wants all of Donbass for Russia

According to a report in the Russian newspaper Kommersant, Putin appeared ready to negotiate. However, he insists on taking over the entire Donbass in the east of the country. The paper reported on Friday that Putin explained details of a similar plan at a meeting with leading Russian businessmen on December 24th. The paper’s Kremlin correspondent wrote that Putin assured that the Russian side was still willing to make the concessions he made at a summit with Trump in Anchorage in August. “In other words: ‘Donbass is ours,'” Kommersant quoted from the meeting. Outside this region, however, a partial exchange of territory on the Russian side cannot be ruled out. It remained unclear whether Putin would be willing to hold direct talks with Zelensky.

The US’s 28-point plan was revised after criticism

According to the Kommersant report, Putin also spoke about the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. Accordingly, a joint Russian-American management of Europe’s largest nuclear facility is being discussed. The USA has also expressed interest in so-called crypto mining near the power plant. The plant should also supply Ukraine with some electricity, it said. According to Russian information, the annexed Crimean peninsula, around 90 percent of Donbass, 75 percent of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions and smaller parts of other areas are currently under their own control.

Zelenskiy has previously said that the Ukrainian and US delegations had converged on drawing up a 20-point plan during talks in Miami over the weekend. However, there is still no agreement on the demand that Ukraine cede the parts of Donbass that it still controls. The future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian troops, is also controversial.