L to R: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky; UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer; French President Emmanuel Macron; and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in front of 10 Downing Street, London, December 8, 2025 (Kin Cheung/AP)

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Trump Camp’s Far-Right Threat to Europe and Ukraine

Thursday’s Coverage: Zelensky Discusses Europe-Kyiv Economic Proposal With Trump Camp

UPDATE 0851 GMT:

Ukrainian drones have attacked the oil refinery in Yaroslavl, around 250 km (160 miles) northeast of Moscow, report Russian Telegram channels.

UPDATE 0723 GMT:

Russian strikes on Odesa in southern Ukraine have damaged infrastructure and cut off electricity and water to parts of the city.

Information about potential casualties is being verified.

UPDATE 0718 GMT:

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un has hailed troops who have propped up Russia’s invasion.

At the end of a three-day Central Committee meeting, Kim said the soldiers “demonstrated to the world the prestige of our army and state as the ever-victorious army and genuine protector of international justice”.

In autumn 2024, North Korea sent around 12,000 troops to help Russia retake areas of the Kursk region which had been captured by Ukraine in a surprise cross-border initiative. At least 600 were killed and thousands wounded, according to South Korean intelligence services.

UPDATE 0710 GMT:

A National Guard serviceman was killed and four people injured, including two police officers, by the explosion of two improvised bombs in Kyiv on Thursday.

The second bomb was detonated as police and medics were responding to the first explosion.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Stepping up the initiative to end Russia’s invasion, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky conferred with the international “Coalition of the Willing” and spoke by phone with senior US officials on Thursday.

Zelensky and European partners have pushed back against a Kremlin ultimatum, crafted with Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with a counter-proposal that begins with a ceasefire on current frontlines.

With some Trump officials demanding that Ukraine accept the ultimatum by Christmas, European leaders showed support for Zelensky with meetings in London, Brussels, and Rome on Monday and Tuesday.

After yesterday’s conference, Zelensky posted about security guarantees, defense support, and “greater protection of life”:

Zelensky has spoken with Trump Administration officials over the past two days about the central elements of the counter-proposal.

On Wednesday, he discussed Ukraine’s recovery, reconstruction, and economic projects with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Larry Fink, the Chairman and CEO of the Blackrock investment firm.

Yesterday he spoke about security guarantees with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, Kushner, and US military commanders.

The President gave no details but posted:

It is essential that this document on security guarantees provides concrete answers to what concerns Ukrainians the most: what actions partners will take if Russia decides to launch its aggression again.

It was agreed that the teams will work actively to ensure that, in the near future, there will be a clear understanding of the security guarantees.

The Trump Administration is reportedly pressing Zelensky to accept Ukraine’s withdrawal from the 22% of the Donetsk region, in the east of the country, which it holds. A 30-km (19-mile) demilitarized zone would be established.

Zelensky responded that the proposal is not viable without guarantees that Russian troops would not take over the zone after a Ukrainian withdrawal. Ukrainian elections or a referendum would be needed for ratification.

Who will govern this territory, which they are calling a ‘free economic zone’ or a ‘demilitarised zone’, they don’t know.

If one side’s troops have to retreat and the other side stays where they are, then what will hold back these other troops, the Russians? Or what will stop them disguising themselves as civilians and taking over this free economic zone? This is all very serious. It’s not a fact that Ukraine would agree to it, but if you are talking about a compromise then it has to be a fair compromise.

“Why doesn’t the other side of the war pull back the same distance in the other direction?” he asked.

The President summarized, “We have two key points of disagreement: the territories of Donetsk and everything related to them, and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. These are the two topics we continue to discuss.”