Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Rasos Cemetery, Vilnius, Lithuania, January 25, 2026

Sunday’s Coverage: Kyiv and Moscow Agree More Talks Despite Russia’s Mass Strikes

UPDATE 1747 GMT:

US officials say they are convinced that Russian negotiators have taken a pragmatic approach in trilateral talks, despite the Kremlin’s hard line in public.

“Two people familiar with the matter” — possibly Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — put out the optimistic assessment.

“They usually say their maximalist demands, and then they allow their private negotiating teams to work with flexibility,” one US official said. “That’s something that’s been happening for a long time.”

A “Ukrainian official familiar with the ongoing negotiations” said the US officials assess the talks “in a very specific way”, with even basic civility is viewed as a meaningful indicator.

“If everyone is polite, that’s seen as a positive sign,” the source said.

UPDATE 1558 GMT:

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has warned the European Parliament that Ukrainians are facing their “harshest winter” in more than a decade.

He said the aim of Ukraine-Russia-US talks must be a peace deal or a long-term ceasefire — “let’s pray we have it as soon as possible” — and then enure that Vladimir Putin “never, never” attacks Ukraine again.

He said the “very sensitive” issue on territory is outstanding. Only Ukraine can make any decision on what, if anything, they can accept in a way of compromise.

UPDATE 1555 GMT:

A grassroots fundraising effort in Czechia has raised more than €5.4 million ($6.4 million) to buy generators, heaters, and batteries for Ukraine.

More than 74,000 donors have given to the “Gift for Putin” group in five days.

UPDATE 1542 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has updated on last weekend’s Ukraine-Russia-US talks:

Zelensky said more than 1,200 apartment buildings in Kyiv remain without heating after Russia’s missile and drones strikes on energy infrastructure.

He said “a significant number of people” in the capital need “immediate” support to deal with the extreme cold:

Together with local authorities and government officials, we discussed how to help as swiftly as possible. For now, the timelines that have been mentioned cannot be considered satisfactory — we must act faster.

The President said he instructed the government to look into “urgently procuring everything that is genuinely needed right now for alternative electricity generation and heat supply”.

UPDATE 1101 GMT:

The European Union has approved the ban on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas by January 1, 2027, and of Russian pipeline gas by 30 September 2027.

The European Council said in a statement:

Following Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the use of energy as a weapon, EU leaders agreed, in the Versailles Declaration of March 2022, to phase out dependence on Russian fossil fuels as soon as possible.

Consequently, gas and oil imports from Russia to the EU have both decreased significantly in recent years. However, while imports of oil have dropped to below 3% in 2025 as a result of the current sanctions regime, Russian gas still accounts for an estimated 13% of EU imports in 2025, worth over €15bn annually.

This leaves the EU exposed to significant risks in terms of its trade and energy security.

However, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said Budapest will challenge the EU’s REPowerEU plan:

We will use every legal means to have it annulled. The REPowerEU plan is based on a legal trick, presenting a sanctions measure as a trade policy decision in order to avoid unanimity. This goes completely against the EU’s own rules.

The Treaties are clear: decisions on the energy mix are a national competence. Banning Hungary from buying oil and gas from Russia goes against our national interest and would significantly increase energy costs for Hungarian families.

UPDATE 0952 GMT:

Facing the threat of Russia’s “shadow fleet”, Finland’s Border Guard is setting up a maritime surveillance center, cooperating with other Baltic Sea states and the European Commission for the protection of critical undersea infrastructure in the Gulf of Finland.

“Competent authorities must have the capability and the authority to intervene in situations occurring in the territorial sea and the exclusive economic zone,” Helsinki said in a statement.

In its annual review, published late last week, the Finnish intelligence service warned that Russia continues its “aggressive anti-western activities”, with “antagonism towards the west.. more pronounced in the Baltic Sea region”. The service cited a number of “hybrid” operations which the Kremlin wants to be “deniable or difficult to link to Russia”.

The review noted the sailing of a Russian-built Indian Talwar II class frigate to the Gulf of Bothnia, the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea: “It is extremely rare for foreign warships [to sail there]….Even though the vessel was Indian, the activities serve Russian interests in testing Finnish and Swedish reaction.”

Russia is “aggressively” protecting its shadow fleet, including through the jamming of navigation systems, “increasing the risk of the intentional or unintentional escalation and accidents”.

Moscow “will likely persist in its ambitions to damage the undersea infrastructure of the Baltic Sea”, the report concluded.

UPDATE 0718 GMT:

Ukrainian drones reportedly struck an oil refinery in Krasnodar Krai in western Russia overnight.

Photos and videos posted by residents on social media appeared to show a blaze in or near the refinery in the town of Slovyansk-na-Kuban.

Regional officials said drone debris fell onto “two enterprises” without giving details. They claimed one person was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky says a document on US security guarantees for Kyiv is complete.

During a press conference in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius on Sunday, Zelensky said, “For us, security guarantees are first and foremost guarantees from the United States. The document is 100% ready, and we are waiting for our partners to confirm the date and place for its signing.”

He reiterated that the signed document will be submitted for ratification by the US Congress and the Ukrainian Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.

The President added that Ukraine’s membership in the European Union will be an economic security guarantee. He projected that Kyiv will be ready to join the bloc by 2027.

Pushing back a Kremlin ultimatum from late October, Ukraine and Europe have established documents which include security guarantees as well as a rejection of Russia’s seizure of more Ukrainian territory.

In talks with Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — who had crafted the Russian ultimatum with Vladimir Putin’s senior financial advisor Kirill Dmitriev — Ukraine and its European partners obtained US participation in the security guarantees. The Americans would oversee aerial operations, based in one of Ukraine’s neighboring countries.

However, last weekend’s Ukraine-Russia-US talks in Abu Dhabi, including Witkoff and Kushner, offered no news of an advance for the security guarantees. The Kremlin maintained its demands for Ukrainian surrender of territory and permanent weakness.

Another round talks is scheduled for February 1 in the UAE.

Zelensky reaffirmed on Sunday, “Our position regarding our territory — Ukraine’s territorial integrity — must be respected.”

The President discussed the Russian attacks and energy situation with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, who pledged 100 emergency generators for Ukraine.