Kyiv will not accept any peace agreement to end Russia’s full-scale invasion that puts Ukraine's Donbas region under Moscow’s control, Volodymyr Zelensky has said. The Ukrainian president made the comments after Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov had said that Kyiv and Washington had made "real progress" during two-day talks in Berlin.

Amid intense international diplomacy aimed at ending the war by year's end, the stakes were high as European leaders joined a summit in Berlin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed willingness to drop Ukraine's NATO aspirations in exchange for Western security guarantees. But he rejected the U.S. push for ceding territory to Russia.

The expected approval at a ceremony in the Dutch city of The Hague follows peace talks in Berlin with President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in the Netherlands, where he will address both houses of parliament for the fourth time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. During his visit,

Ukraine and the US have reached advanced talks on a potential peace plan to end the war with Russia, with Nato-style security guarantees proposed. President Zelensky continues to reject territorial concessions as tensions over Donbas persist.

The United States has a plan for Ukrainian troops to withdraw from Donetsk province and the creation of a economic zone off limits to Russian forces.

In an interview with Politico, President Trump again pressed Zelensky to accept the U.S. proposal that Ukraine cede territory to Russia, arguing that Moscow retains the 'upper hand.'

EADaily, December 16th, 2025. Volodymyr Zelensky, who has repeatedly refused Washington's compromise proposals for a settlement, said that it had not yet been possible to bring the positions on the issue of territories closer to the United States at the talks in Berlin.