Zelensky is cautiously optimistic about peace talks – DW – 12/22/2025

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said talks between his country and the US on a peace deal with Russia look “quite solid at this stage”.

Acknowledging that neither side is likely to get all of its demands, Zelensky said many parts of the US proposals are in line with his country’s demands.

Zelensky said that “there are some things” that Ukraine is not willing to accept, while the same could be said about the Russians.

According to the Ukrainian leader, the solution to many key issues – including Kyiv’s EU membership, the future size of its military and others – is likely to lie in his support for other countries and his country.

The Ukrainian president said, “Some key countries will provide presence in these areas; others will contribute to energy security, finance, bomb shelters, etc.”

US special envoy Stef Witkoff said Sunday that his talks with Ukrainian and European representatives in Florida were “productive and constructive.

The European Union (EU) barred two members of the judiciary in Russia from entering its members’ territory due to allegations of human rights violations.

The two, Dmitry Gordeev and Lyudmila Balandina, will not be able to access any assets held in the 27-nation bloc.

A statement issued by the EU blamed both of them for “serious human rights violations, repression of civil society and democratic opposition, and undermining of democracy and the rule of law in Russia.”

EU citizens and businesses based in EU territory are also prohibited from providing funds.

According to the statement, Gordeev made politically motivated decisions against opposition representatives and human rights defenders in his role as a judge in the Moscow City Court, while prosecutor Balandina abused her position to issue politically motivated charges.

The Ukrainian military said they encountered Russian soldiers on horses near the front line. On Monday, Ukraine’s 92nd Separate Assault Brigade posted a video on Telegram showing Russian soldiers traveling on horses or mules being attacked by small drones.

“The Russian occupiers are losing their equipment so quickly in their ‘meat attacks,’ leaving Ukraine with little chance of survival for direct attacks,” the brigade wrote in the post, “that they are being forced to move on horses.”

Both sides of the conflict rely heavily on drones to monitor the battlefield. This makes detection almost impossible and severely limits the use of armored vehicles.

As a result, Russian forces have become dependent on small assault groups to rapidly advance towards Ukrainian positions and attempt to gain a foothold.

Previous videos have shown Russian soldiers using off-road motorcycles, quad bikes, electric bicycles and electric scooters for transportation.

A Russian general was killed in a car bomb explosion in southern Moscow on Monday, Russian federal investigators said.

Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, died from his injuries.

“Investigators are conducting a number of lines of inquiry in connection with the murder. One of which is that the crime was committed by Ukrainian intelligence services,” said Svetlana Petrenko, spokeswoman for Russia’s Investigative Committee.

Read more about other top Russian officials killed in Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The European Commission announced that Ukraine received an additional €2.3 billion ($2.7 billion) from the EU to support its finances and public administration.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU and its member states have pledged hundreds of billions of euros in aid to the war-torn country, including military aid, financial aid and aid for Ukrainian refugees.

One of the EU’s main financing instruments is the Ukraine Facility. Its total budget is €50 billion. According to the Commission, the Facility is designed to support Ukraine’s recovery, reform and transition towards EU membership.

Additionally, the EU is providing approximately €18.1 billion through the Exceptional Revenue Acceleration (ERA) Loan Initiative, a G7 effort to financially support Ukraine. The funding arises from interest earned on frozen Russian state assets held within the EU.

Russian state media on Monday quoted the country’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as citing “slow progress” in US-led talks between US, Russian and Ukrainian representatives to end Russia’s nearly four-year-long invasion of its neighbor.

Ryabkov reportedly pressured Washington to sideline European leaders and said that “extremely harmful, malicious efforts were made by an influential group of states to sabotage these efforts.”

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner have hosted both Russian and Ukrainian negotiators as both have attempted to get Ukraine to cede territory to Ukraine to stop Moscow’s unprovoked invasion – which Russian President Vladimir Putin launched on February 24, 2022 – and end the war.

The US has at times sidelined Ukraine’s European allies, whom Moscow claims are only interested in prolonging the war.

US and Ukrainian representatives said their talks focused on security guarantees for Kiev.

In the same post on X, Witkoff and lead Ukrainian negotiator Rustam Umerov said; “Over the past three days in Florida, the Ukrainian delegation held a number of meaningful and constructive meetings with American and European partners. Ukraine is fully committed to achieving a just and lasting peace.”

Putin adviser Kirill Dmitriev, who represented Russia in Miami, described the talks as “constructive,” according to Russia’s state news agency TASS, to which Vitkoff posted that “Russia is fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine.”

Today, we’ll discuss the latest updates from Ukraine, including progress on US-led peace talks in Miami.

In an effort to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has lasted nearly four years, the Trump administration’s international negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, met separately with Ukrainian and Russian representatives.

Elsewhere, a car bomb killed a prominent Russian general in Moscow on Monday morning and Ukrainian drone operators are reported to have attacked Russian soldiers traveling on horseback.

Stay tuned for these stories and more.