Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and First Lady Olena Zelenska, Kyiv, December 31, 2025
EA on TVP World: Ukraine, Europe, and Trump — The Showdown Over Security Guarantees
UPDATE 0907 GMT:
Rebuffing the Kremlin’s propaganda and disinformation, the CIA has informed Donald Trump that Ukraine did not attempt to attack Vladimir Putin’s residence south of St. Petersburg.
The CIA concluded that Ukrainian drones attempted to attack a military facility, also located in the Novgorod region, on Monday. However, Putin’s residence was not close to the target.
The Kremlin pushed its false story on Monday in an attempt to disrupt US discussions of the Ukraine-Europe proposals to end Russia’s invasion.
Trump reacted that he was “very angry” about the report. However, after a briefing by CIA Director John Ratcliffe on Wednesday, he pulled back.
Trump posted a link to a New York Post editorial, “Putin ‘attack’ bluster shows Russia is the one standing in the way of peace.”
UPDATE 0845 GMT:
At least two civilians have been murdered and at least 16 wounded by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.
Air defenses downed 176 of 205 drones, with 24 others striking 15 locations.
In the Kherson region in the south, one person was killed and four injured.
The other fatality was in the Donetsk region in the east. Casualties were also reported in the Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Sumy regions.
UPDATE 0803 GMT:
Russia launched drone attacks on several Ukrainian regions overnight, striking energy infrastructure in Odesa region and causing a fire in the western city of Lutsk.
Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said, “Just a few minutes before the New Year, Russian terrorists once again brazenly attacked energy infrastructure that is critically important for civilians in Odesa Oblast.”
In Lutsk, around 420 km (261 miles) west of Kyiv, Mayor Ihor Polishchuk said, “This is the kind of fire we have in our Lutsk this New Year instead of festive lights.”
ORIGINAL ENTRY: In his New Year’s Eve address to the nation, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that an agreement to end Russia’s invasion is “90% ready”.
But Zelensky assured Ukrainians that he will not sign a “weak” agreement that only prolongs the Kremlin’s assault.
What does Ukraine want? Peace? Yes. At any cost? No. We want an end to the war but not the end of Ukraine….Are we tired? Very. Does this mean we are ready to surrender? Anyone who thinks so is deeply mistaken.
The President said of negotiations with the US over the Ukraine-Europe proposals: “The peace agreement is 90% ready, 10% remains. And that is far more than just numbers.”
Happy New Year, Ukraine!
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 31, 2025
Pushing back a Kremlin ultimatum — crafted with Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — from late October, Kyiv and European partners have crafted five documents. They were presented by Zelensky to Trump in Florida on Monday.
For the first time, the US has agreed to involvement in security guarantees for Ukraine, albeit with a difference on duration: Trump has accepted up to 15 years, while Ukraine and Europe want up to 50.
Differences remain in three areas. Kyiv and Europe have proposed a demilitarized economic zone in the strategic Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, with both Ukrainian and Russian forces pulling back.
Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine will not accept the ultimatum to hand over the 22% of Donetsk which it controls:
Pull out from the Donbas [Donetsk and Luhansk regions], and it will all be over. That is how deception sounds when translated from Russian – into Ukrainian, into English, into German, into French, and, in fact, into any language in the world.”
The details of Ukraine’s reconstruction fund are yet to be confirmed. Ukraine is seeking support of its sovereignty over the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, rather than an equal split between Washington, Moscow, and Kyiv.
US and Ukrainian teams may meet next week. National security advisors from Kyiv’s “Coalition of the Willing” partners will confer before leaders gather in Paris on January 6.
Zelensky summarized:
Do we want the war to end? Absolutely.
Why has it not happened yet? The answer is right next to our country.
Can Russia end the war? Yes. Does it want to? No.
Can the world force it to do so? Yes — and only that way will it work.
