Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s new chief of staff has reported “concrete results” have already been reached in ongoing talks over an end to the war and post-conflict security guarantees with Western allies.
Kyrylo Budanov offered the update on Telegram on Wednesday, as talks continued in Paris at the largest-ever summit of the “coalition of the willing” – a group of 35 countries that have pledged to support Kyiv against Russian aggression.
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“Ukrainian national interests will be defended,” Budanov insisted, although he gave no details about the progress made.
In a subsequent social media post, Zelenskyy said that the talks on Wednesday, which will again include United States envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, would address “the most difficult issues” in the discussions to end the nearly four-year war.
In light of Russia’s demands that Ukraine cede four of its eastern regions, territorial questions are the toughest for Kyiv. Within that topic is the status of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
“Ukraine does not shy away from the most difficult issues and will never be an obstacle to peace,” Zelenskyy insisted, repeating a mantra designed to ward off accusations from Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump that Ukraine is not serious about ending the conflict.
“Peace must be dignified,” he added. “And this depends on the partners – on whether they ensure Russia’s real readiness to end the war.”
High tension
The updates come a day after the United States pledged to back security guarantees for Ukraine, including leading a truce monitoring mechanism, while France and the United Kingdom said they would deploy forces to Ukrainian territory if a ceasefire was agreed.
The progress, hailed by both European leaders and US envoys, came amid days of high tension due to Trump’s aggressive foreign policy lunge in Venezuela and subsequent threats regarding his desire to take Greenland from NATO ally Denmark.
Russia, which occupies about a fifth of Ukrainian territory and has not signalled any willingness to compromise on its fundamentalist demands, has given no indication that it would accept a settlement backed by foreign troops inside Ukraine.
As talks continued in Paris, Ukraine and Russia continued to trade attacks on the ground.
Ukrainian drones hit an oil depot in Russia’s Belgorod region overnight, the commander of the drone forces said.
The strike ignited a fire at the depot that was eventually extinguished, the Vesti state television channel reported, citing the regional Russian governor.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had launched air, drone, artillery and missile strikes on Ukrainian long-range drone launch sites, ammunition depots, military equipment and troops.
Putin’s ‘holy mission’
Amid the ongoing fighting, President Vladimir Putin attended a Russian Orthodox Christmas service where he hailed his troops’ “holy mission” to defend the country.
He has increasingly leaned on patriotic and religious symbolism as the conflict grinds on.
“Russia’s warriors have always, as if at the Lord’s behest, carried out this mission of defending the fatherland and its people, saving the motherland and its people,” Putin said at the St George Victory Bearer church, near Moscow, after the service.
“At all times in Russia, this is how people have regarded their warriors, as those who, as if at the Lord’s behest, carry out this holy mission.”
Video footage showed Putin in a dark suit without a tie among uniformed servicemen, alongside wives and children, as clerics conducted the service.
