Russia claims solution close, but rejects Ukraine plan

“I believe that December 25, 2025 will remain in our memory as a threshold, when we really got closer to a solution,” Ryabkov said on the “60 Minutes” program, broadcast by Russian state television.

The diplomat added that it now depends on the political will of the parties whether the final step will be taken to reach an agreement.

At the same time, Ryabkov assured that the 20-point peace plan released by Kiev and circulating in the press is “radically” different from the 27-point document on which Russia has been working in recent weeks with the United States.

Hours earlier, the Kremlin announced that Moscow had resumed contacts with Washington after analyzing the peace plan modified by Ukraine and its European allies.

“On the orders of President (Vladimir) Putin, contact took place between representatives of the government of Russia and the United States,” said Dmitri Peskov, Russian presidential spokesman, at his daily telephone press conference.

Peskov detailed that, on the Russian side, the person in charge was the Kremlin’s international policy advisor, Yuri Ushakov, while on the American side “there were several interlocutors”.

The spokesperson added that the Russians and Americans “agreed to continue the dialogue.”

A week ago, at his annual press conference, Putin claimed that he never rejected the plan put forward by US President Donald Trump, stating that “the ball is in the court” of Kiev and its allies.

At the same time, the Russian dictator maintained his position of demanding Ukrainian withdrawal from Donbass and stating that the only way to avoid future “special military operations” in Europe is to respect Russia’s security interests.

The American portal Axios reported today that Trump is willing to receive Volodymyr Zelensky this Sunday (28) at his residence in Florida, after the Ukrainian president stated earlier that an agreement “can be decided long before the New Year”.

According to Zelensky, the 20 points of the plan propose a non-aggression pact between Russia and Ukraine, which would be supervised by a monitoring mechanism and based on a series of security guarantees, such as a Ukrainian Army with 800,000 members and binding agreements by which the US and other allies would commit to providing a defense equivalent to NATO’s Article 5.

Regarding the thorniest issue, the territorial cessions that Russia claims, Zelensky acknowledged that at the moment there are two options on the table, of which Kiev prefers the first, which would consist of freezing the current front line.

The second would consist of creating one or more economic zones in the part of the Donetsk region that Ukraine still controls but which is claimed by Russia, something that, however, would only be analyzed once Kiev has received sufficient security guarantees.