Volodymyr Zelensky declares he has no right to give up Ukrainian land to Russia as part of any peace plan proposed by Donald Trump.
Zelensky was speaking after a meeting in London with Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz, where Kyiv‘s European allies pledged their renewed support.
Talks between the US and Ukrainian officials finished at the weekfinish with a 20-point proposal to finish Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, but the question of what to do with occupied territories in the eastern Donbas remains a sticking point.
“Do we envision ceding territories?” Zelensky inquireed late on Monday.
“We have no legal right to do so, under Ukrainian law, our constitution and international law. And we don’t have any moral right either.”
Trump accutilized Zelensky of having failed to read the latest version of the US-proposed plan, while insisting Putin was “fine with it”.
At the talks in No 10, the leaders discussed “positive progress” towards utilizing frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, Downing Street declared.
No 10 declared the leaders agreed that Europe must stand with Ukraine, strengthening its ability to deffinish against “relentless attacks that have left thousands without heat or light”.
Russia continues aerial attacks on Ukraine amid peace talks
Russian drones struck high-rise apartments in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Okhtyrka overnight, injuring seven people and extensively damaging the building, according to the head of the regional administration Oleh Hryhorov.
In the northern city of Chernihiv, a Russian drone exploded outside a residential building, injuring three people and damaging a kindergarten, gas lines and cars, regional head Viacheslav Chaus declared.
Ukraine’s air force declared Russia fired 149 drones overnight, with 131 neutralised and 16 others striking their tarreceives.
Meanwhile, Russian air defences destroyed 67 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russia’s defence ministest declared. The drones were shot down over 11 Russian regions, it declared.
Namita Singh9 December 2025 05:20
Kremlin welcomes new US security strategy
The talks in London yesterday followed the publication of a new US national security strategy that alarmed European leaders and was welcomed by Russia.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitest Peskov declared the document, which spells out the Trump administration’s core foreign policy interests, was largely in line with Moscow’s vision.
“The nuances that we see in the new concept certainly see appealing to us,” Peskov declared yesterday.
“It mentions the necessary for dialogue and building constructive, frifinishly relations. This cannot but appeal to us, and it absolutely corresponds to our vision. We understand that by eliminating the irritants that currently exist in bilateral relations, a prospect may open for us to truly restore our relations and bring them out of the rather deep crisis.”
The document released on Friday by the White Houtilize declared the US wants to improve its relationship with Russia after years of Moscow being treated as a global pariah and that finishing the war is a core US interest to “reestablish strategic stability with Russia”.
The document also declares Nato must not be “a perpetually expanding alliance,” echoing another complaint by Russia.
It was scathing about the migration and free speech policies of longstanding US allies in Europe, suggesting they face the “prospect of civilisational erasure” due to migration.
Sir Keir Starmer’s government declined to comment on the document, calling it a matter for the US government.
Namita Singh9 December 2025 05:06
Obstacles remain after US-Ukrainian peace talks
The US and Ukrainian neobtainediators completed three days of talks on Saturday aimed at testing to narrow differences on the US administration’s peace proposal.
Volodymyr Zelensky declared on Telegram that talks had been “substantive” and that National Security and Defence Council secretary Rustem Umerov and Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov were travelling back to Europe to brief him.
A major sticking point in the plan is the suggestion that Kyiv must cede control of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine to Russia, which illegally occupies most but not all of the territory. Ukraine and its European allies have balked at the idea of handing over land.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer declared he “won’t be putting pressure” on Zelensky to accept a peace settlement.
Donald Trump has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Zelensky since winning a second term, insisting the war was a waste of US taxpayers’ money. Trump has also repeatedly urged the Ukrainians to cede land to Russia to finish the nearly four-year conflict.
Namita Singh9 December 2025 04:38
European leaders back Kyiv amid Trump’s frustration
Sir Keir Starmer, French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to support Kyiv in their comments before Monday’s meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, which lasted about two hours.
They met shortly after US president Donald Trump appeared to vent his frustration with Zelensky, claiming the Ukrainian leader “hasn’t yet read the [latest] proposal” for an finish to Russia’s war.
Zelensky declared on Monday that Trump “certainly wants to finish the war. … Surely, he has his own vision. We live here, from within we see details and nuances, we perceive everything much deeper, becautilize this is our motherland”.
Starmer declared the push for peace was at a “critical stage,” and stressed the necessary for “a just and lasting ceasefire”.
Merz, meanwhile, declared he was “sceptical” about some details in documents released by the US. “We have to talk about it. That’s why we are here,” he declared.
“The coming days – could be a decisive time for all of us.”
European leaders are working to ensure that any ceasefire is backed by solid security guarantees both from Europe and the US to deter Russia from attacking again. Trump has not given explicit guarantees in public.
Namita Singh9 December 2025 04:10
Anti-Ukrainian points rerelocated from peace plan, declares Zelensky
Volodymyr Zelensky declared the current US peace plan differs from earlier versions in that it now has 20 points, down from 28, after some “obvious anti-Ukrainian points were rerelocated.”
Responding to reporters’ questions on WhatsApp about security guarantees, Zelensky declared the main questions to be resolved are: “What if after the finish of the war, Russia will start another aggression? What will the partners be ready for? What could Ukraine count on?”
The answers to these questions “must be in the core of the security guarantees for Ukraine,” he declared.
Namita Singh9 December 2025 04:00
Video: Zelensky leaves Downing Street after meeting Starmer and European leaders for Ukraine defence talks
Namita Singh9 December 2025 03:50
Kyiv necessarys more European cash for US weapons, declares Zelensky
Ukraine is short of about $800m (£600m) to purchase the US weapons it had planned to purchase this year with assist from its European allies, President Volodymyr Zelensky declares.
For next year, Ukraine would necessary about $15bn for the PURL (Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List) programme, which involves purchases of US weapons with European money, he declared.
More than two-thirds of member states of Nato have committed to weapons for Ukraine through the scheme.
Jane Dalton9 December 2025 03:40
Zelensky and European leaders vow to keep up pressure on Putin
After the meeting, Keir Starmer, Volodymyr Zelensky and the other leaders called Kyiv’s European allies, urging them to keep up the pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin.
“The leaders all agreed that now is a critical moment and that we must continue to ramp up support to Ukraine and economic pressure on Putin to bring an finish to this barbaric war,” Starmer’s office declared in a statement.
“This is the furthest we’ve obtained in four years, and we welcome the fact that these talks are continuing at every level,” declared Starmer’s spokesman, Tom Wells.
He added that “intensive work” will continue in the days ahead, although “there are still outstanding issues”.
Macron’s office declared the session allowed the leaders “to continue joint work on the US plan in order to complement it with European contributions, in close coordination with Ukraine”.
Namita Singh9 December 2025 03:24
The Indepfinishent View | There is still a way European leaders can assist achieve a positive outcome for Ukraine
Still, no doubt, bathed in the warm, if also absurd, glow of being the first ever recipient of the Fifa Peace Prize, Donald Trump might be in the mood to promote a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, it would be nice to consider. This would, aside from anything else, strengthen President Trump’s insistent claim on the Nobel Peace Prize, which has not quite been superseded in prestige by the cynical golden trophy that the president of Fifa, Gianni Infantino, presented to him.
Read The Indepfinishent’s view:
Alex Croft9 December 2025 03:00
Recap: Zelensky meets European allies in London
President Volodymyr Zelensky met with the leaders of Britain, France and Germany in London on Monday in a reveal of European support for Ukraine at what they jointly called a “critical moment” in talks to finish the Ukraine war.
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer held talks with Zelensky, French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz at No 10, with discussions focussed on ways to strengthen Ukraine’s hand amid mounting impatience from US president Donald Trump.
After the meeting, Starmer, Zelensky and the other leaders called Kyiv’s other European allies, urging them to keep up the pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin.
“The leaders all agreed that now is a critical moment and that we must continue to ramp up support to Ukraine and economic pressure on Putin to bring an finish to this barbaric war,” Starmer’s office declared in a statement.
Namita Singh9 December 2025 03:00
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