Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has signalled fresh momentum in efforts to end the nearly four-year-old war with Russia after what he described as a “very good” Christmas Day call with senior envoys from US President Donald Trump.
It is important if we succeed in organizing what we discussed today with President Trump’s envoys. Some documents, as I see it, are nearly ready, and some documents are fully prepared. Of course, there is still work to be done on sensitive issues. But together with the American… pic.twitter.com/kCmrNOaQBQ
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 25, 2025
Speaking in a video address to the nation and in posts on social media, Zelensky said discussions with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner had produced “new ideas in terms of formats, meetings and, of course, timing on how to bring a real peace closer”.
The hour-long call, which also included Ukraine’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov, came as Washington presses both Kyiv and Moscow to reach an agreement to end the conflict that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Zelensky said the talks had been constructive and that several documents linked to a proposed peace framework were either nearly finished or already prepared.
“There is still work to be done on sensitive issues,” he said. “But together with the American team, we understand how to put all of this in place.”
Meeting with Trump planned
The Ukrainian leader confirmed he will meet President Trump in the coming days at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, where the two leaders are expected to discuss a US-brokered peace agreement that Zelensky says is “90 per cent ready”.
Axios earlier reported that the meeting would take place on Sunday, marking the first in-person talks between the two leaders since Trump intensified his push for a rapid end to the war.
The White House has made ending the conflict one of its top foreign policy priorities, with Trump arguing that continued fighting risks wider instability and further economic damage.
Zelensky has faced growing pressure from Washington to accept painful compromises, including possible territorial concessions in eastern Ukraine. However, he has repeatedly said that any deal must include firm security guarantees to prevent Russia from launching another invasion in the future.
The 20-point peace plan
At the centre of the talks is a 20-point peace plan developed by US and Ukrainian negotiators and revised in recent weeks after criticism from Kyiv and its European allies.
An earlier draft prepared by Witkoff was seen in Kyiv as too favourable to Moscow, reflecting many of Russia’s pre-war demands, including limits on Ukraine’s military and political independence.
The updated version now under discussion includes the possibility of a demilitarised zone in eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian troops could withdraw from some front-line areas under international supervision.
Zelensky has said the plan also envisages security guarantees from the United States, Nato and European partners, committing them to a co-ordinated military response if Russia attacks Ukraine again.
On the disputed Donetsk region, part of the wider Donbas area, the plan proposes a “free economic zone” to help stabilise the territory. Zelensky has stressed that any areas vacated by Ukrainian troops would still be policed by Ukrainian authorities.
Russia currently controls about 75% of Donetsk and almost all of neighbouring Luhansk, which together form the industrial heartland of eastern Ukraine.
Trump has reportedly urged Kyiv to cede all of Donbas to Russia in exchange for an end to hostilities, a position Zelensky has so far rejected.
Moscow studying proposals
In Moscow, the Kremlin said it was analysing the peace proposals brought back from the United States by Russia’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev after talks in Miami.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russian president Vladimir Putin had instructed his foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov to speak with US officials following the delivery of the documents.
“We are examining this material, and depending on the decisions made by the head of state, we will continue our communication with the Americans,” Peskov said.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova described the talks with Washington as showing “slow but steady progress”.
However, Putin has repeatedly insisted that Ukraine must withdraw its forces from Donbas, warning that Russia would seize the territory if Kyiv did not comply.
Fighting continues
Despite the diplomatic activity, the war continues to rage across large parts of Ukraine and Russia’s border regions.
On Thursday, Ukraine confirmed it had used British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles to strike the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia’s Rostov region, near the Ukrainian border.
Ukrainian military officials said the facility was one of southern Russia’s key producers of petrol products and played a crucial role in supplying fuel to Russian forces operating in occupied eastern Ukraine.
“Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement.
Russian authorities confirmed the attack and said a fire had broken out at the site. A firefighter was injured while tackling the blaze.
Ukraine also said it had carried out long-range drone strikes on oil storage tanks in the Krasnodar region and a gas processing plant in Orenburg, part of a wider campaign aimed at reducing Moscow’s oil export revenues, which help fund its war effort.
Russian advances in Donetsk
On the battlefield, Russia has continued to make slow but steady advances in eastern Ukraine.
The Russian defence ministry said its forces had captured the settlement of Sviato-Pokrovske in the Donetsk region, adding to recent gains around the town of Siversk, from which Ukrainian troops withdrew earlier this week.
The fall of Siversk brings Russian forces closer to the heavily fortified cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, the last major Ukrainian strongholds in the northern part of Donetsk.
Ukrainian officials have acknowledged that their troops are under increasing pressure as Russia pours men and firepower into the region.
Civilian toll
Meanwhile, civilians continue to pay a heavy price for the fighting.
In Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, one person was killed and three others injured when a Russian guided aerial bomb struck a residential house, local authorities said.
Drone attacks on the southern port cities of Mykolaiv and Odesa left parts of the cities without power overnight, damaging energy and port infrastructure.
Kyiv has accused Moscow of trying to “weaponise winter” by targeting Ukraine’s electricity grid in an effort to deprive civilians of heat, light and running water during the coldest months of the year.
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Fragile path forward
Zelensky said the coming weeks could prove decisive as negotiators attempt to turn draft proposals into a binding agreement.
“It is important if we succeed in organising what we discussed today with President Trump’s envoys,” he wrote. “Some documents are nearly ready, and some are fully prepared.”
Yet deep divisions remain over territory, security and the future of eastern Ukraine, making any final deal highly sensitive.
For now, Ukraine and Russia appear to be edging cautiously toward talks, even as missiles and drones continue to fall — a reminder that the path to peace, if it exists, is still fragile and uncertain.
