Zelensky Hails “New Peace Ideas” After High-Level US Talks
Zelensky says talks with US envoys delivered new peace ideas, boosting Ukraine diplomacy efforts amid Russia war and evolving ceasefire proposals.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has given a positive assessment of his talks with US envoys on how to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
Zelenskyy said that the nearly hour-long conversation with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Thursday yielded "new ideas regarding the format, the meetings, and... the timing of achieving real peace."
He made the remarks a day after providing updated details of a 20-point peace plan agreed upon by US and Ukrainian envoys in Florida.
Zelenskyy said he had asked Witkoff and Kushner to convey Christmas greetings to US President Donald Trump "and the entire Trump family."
The Kremlin said it was analyzing proposals brought from the US by a Russian envoy.
Trump and his envoys have been engaging with both Ukraine and Russia to broker a deal to end the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Some progress appears to have been made in recent days, with the Ukrainian president praising the "good ideas" put forward by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Kushner.
Zelenskyy said it was an "active day" for his country's diplomacy, as he spoke at length with the US envoys.
He acknowledged that "sensitive issues still need to be worked out" but added that "together with the American team, we understand how to implement all of this."
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine's top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, who is also the country's top security official, "will continue negotiations with the American team."
The 20-point peace plan agreed upon by the US and Ukraine is considered an update to an initial draft prepared by Witkoff several weeks ago. The draft was widely seen as heavily skewed toward Russia's pre-invasion maximalist demands, which, according to Kyiv and its European allies, amounted to a de facto surrender by Ukraine.
Describing the updated proposal on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said it offered Russia the potential withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the east and the creation of a demilitarized zone in their place.
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He said the plan now includes security guarantees from the US, NATO, and European countries to provide a coordinated military response if Russia attacks Ukraine again. On the crucial question of Ukraine's industrial eastern Donetsk region, Zelenskyy said a "free economic zone" was a possible option. He insisted that any territory from which Ukrainian troops withdraw would still have to be policed by Ukraine.
Moscow currently controls approximately 75% of the Donetsk region and nearly 99% of neighboring Luhansk, collectively known as the Donbas.
During the ongoing Washington-led peace talks, Zelenskyy has been under immense pressure from the Trump administration to cede the entire Donbas region to Russia.
The Ukrainian leader has so far rejected any territorial concessions, instead demanding firm security guarantees for Ukraine in any potential agreement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that Ukrainian troops must leave the Donbas, or Russia will seize it.
On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was studying the proposals brought from the US by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
"We are examining this material, and based on the decisions made by the head of state, we will continue our communication with the Americans," he said.
While diplomatic efforts to end the conflict are progressing slowly, fighting continues on the ground. The Ukrainian military said on Thursday that it had attacked a major Russian oil refinery in the southern Rostov region with cruise missiles.
The Novoshakhtinsk refinery, located near the Ukrainian border, is crucial for supplying fuel to Russian military operations in occupied eastern Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces had seized control of the Svyato-Pokrovske settlement in the Donetsk region.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian troops withdrew from the embattled eastern city of Siversk.
The capture of the city brings Russia closer to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, the last remaining "fortified belt" cities in the Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control.
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