Vladimir Putin remains unyielding in his demand that the entire Donbas region become Russian, according to a report by the Russian economic newspaper “Kommersant”. The Russian president reportedly told top businessmen that he could accept a territorial exchange of areas controlled by Russian forces in Ukraine, but excluding Donbas. Russia controls all of Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, approximately 90% of Donbas, 75% of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and parts of Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Moscow demands that Ukraine withdraw from the Donbas, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Specifically for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, it proposes joint Russian-American administration.
For his part, Volodymyr Zelensky maintains that after weekend talks in Miami, Ukrainian and US negotiating teams have come close to finalizing a 20-point peace plan. The text presented by the Ukrainian side earlier this week does not provide a solution for territories currently under Russian control or the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Instead, it refers to security guarantees that Ukraine must receive to prevent further Russian aggression.
Previous versions of the text adopted Moscow’s demands for withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Donbas territories. In this form, it is extremely doubtful whether the plan would be accepted by Moscow. Yesterday, however, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson stated that there is “slow but steady progress” in the negotiation process.
On Sunday, Ukraine’s president is expected to travel to Washington for a meeting with Donald Trump. Volodymyr Zelensky stated that sensitive issues, including territorial compromises, should be discussed at the head of state level.
“Much can be decided before New Year’s,” Zelensky posted on X, following talks he had on Thursday with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and the American president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Parallel to negotiations, Russian drone attacks continue. In the early hours of Christmas, attacks caused damage to ships flying Slovakian, Palauan and Liberian flags in ports in Ukraine’s Odesa and Mykolaiv regions. In the country’s northwestern section, drones damaged a train engine and freight car at Kovel railway station, about 60 kilometers from Poland. There were no casualties.
