Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, on an official visit to Poland to meet with his Polish counterpart, Karol Nawrocki. In Warsaw, December 19, 2025. KLAUDIA RADECKA / NURPHOTO VIA AFP
The ball is now in Russia's court. That was the message Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered on Tuesday, December 23, as he presented the outcome of weeks of negotiations with the US for a "draft agreement" acceptable to Kyiv, aimed at ending the invasion launched by Moscow nearly four years ago. Briefed by his two envoys who had just returned from Miami, Florida, after a weekend of talks with White House representatives, Zelensky outlined a trimmed version of 20 points of a peace framework agreement between Ukraine, Europe, the United States and Russia. He said he expected, through the US, a response from Moscow by Wednesday.
The framework agreement under discussion went from an initial 28-point version presented by the US at the end of November – unacceptable to Ukraine – to 20 points today, "a significant development," as Zelensky emphasized. He explained that both sides managed to reach "consensus" on most elements of the document, except, unsurprisingly, for the two most sensitive issues: the future management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, occupied by the Russian military, and the territories. On these two points, the president said he wanted discussions to take place "at a presidential level."
