Rustem Umierov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, has said he expects that Kyiv and Washington will have agreed on common positions by the end of the day, bringing peace closer.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine’s ability to strike back at Russia gives it leverage in peace talks.

The officials said that robust negotiations between President Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his team led to progress on narrowing differences on security guarantees Kyiv said must be provided.

Germany plans to deepen its defense cooperation with Ukraine, including for the first time the possibility of acquiring weapons and battlefield data from Kyiv, alongside a potential peace agreement under discussion in Berlin.

The softer support for Ukraine in France and Germany does not appear to reflect warmer feelings toward Moscow, however. Voters in all five countries backed sanctions against Russia, suggesting that even where publics want to pare back aid they remain broadly aligned around punishing the aggressor and limiting Russia’s ability to finance the war.

Millions of Ukrainians have been plunged into periodic darkness and cold as Russian drones and missiles wage a systematic long-range campaign.

Zelensky said on Sunday he was already in Berlin ahead of talks with a U.S. delegation on Monday. Axios reported on Friday he would meet with President Donald Trump's Russia envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in Germany.

Russia is now arming its drones with Soviet-era air-to-air missiles to hunt Ukrainian aircraft, Kyiv said.

Ukrainian officials are expected to present new peace proposals to U.S. negotiators Wednesday. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says this comes ahead of urgent talks on Thursday with leaders from about 30 countries supporting Ukraine’s efforts to end Russia's nearly 4-year-old full-scale invasion.

President Trump pushes Kyiv to strike a quick deal with Moscow, but his Ukrainian counterpart wants security guarantees.

Ukraine’s negotiator Rustem Umerov said Monday that two days of talks in Berlin with a U.S. delegation resulted in “real progress” toward

EADaily, December 15th, 2025. Left-bank Ukraine and Kiev are one step away from a blackout. When it can start depends on many factors. However, local experts are already talking about outages of 22 hours with light frosts,