#peace-negotiations

#peace-negotiations

Leaders of Ukraine's allies gathered Tuesday in Paris for key talks that could help determine the country's security after any potential peace deal is reached with Russia. But prospects for progress are uncertain: The Trump administration's focus is shifting to Venezuela while U.S. suggestions of a Greenland takeover are causing tension with Europe, and Moscow shows no signs of budging from its demands in its nearly 4-year-old invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday told reporters that President Donald Trump is considering sending U.S. troops to his country. In recent days, Trump has spoken with both Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war in the region. Those peace efforts were further complicated when Russia launched strikes on Kyiv over the weekend the day before Trump and Zelensky met at Mar-a-Lago.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed on Monday that the attack had taken place on Putin's residence in northwestern Russia's Novgorod region, using 91 long-range strike drones. list of 4 itemsend of list Lavrov said air defence systems shot down the aerial attack, and added that no one was injured. Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said the strike took place on Sunday, practically immediately after talks held in Florida between United States President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy on negotiations to end Russia's war on Ukraine.

President Donald Trump posted an optimistic Truth Social message Sunday morning about Vladimir Putin, right before his meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss ending the war with Russia. I just had a good and very productive telephone call with President Putin of Russia prior to my meeting, at 1:00 P.M. today, with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, Trump wrote. The meeting will take place in the main dining room of Mar-a-Lago. Press is invited.

A lot can be decided before the New Year,

Officials from Russia and the United States ended a day of peace talks in the southern US state of Florida and will continue their efforts on Sunday. Russian President Vladimir Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitriev told reporters that the meeting with US counterparts Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had been constructive. "The discussions are proceeding constructively. They began earlier and will continue today, and will also continue tomorrow," Dmitriev said.

Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner have been meeting top Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov and Andrii Hnatov, the chief of staff of Kyiv's armed forces. Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia's readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings, said a summary of the talks.

Trump told reporters in the White House Oval Office on Wednesday that Witkoff and Kushner had "a reasonably good" meeting with Putin, but later said the discussions were "very good". Their impression was that Putin would "like to see the war ended ... their impression was very strongly that he wants to make a deal," Trump said, but stressed he didn't know if a deal was possible.

With his bear-like look and immense clout, Andriy Yermak towered over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for years literally and figuratively. A former copyright lawyer who collaborated with District 95, a comic troupe that propelled Zelenskyy to stardom, the 54-year-old Yermak became Ukraine's grey cardinal after the former comedian won the 2019 presidential vote. list of 4 itemsend of list While chief of Zelenskyy's staff, Yermak played an outsized role he was widely considered as vice president and vice prime minister.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Paris on Monday, where he will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss continued European support for Kyiv as US President Donald Trump seeks to push Zelenskyy to make harsh concessions to aggressor Russia in hopes of ending Vladimir Putin's nearly four-year invasion. On Sunday, US and Ukrainian negotiators held "productive" meetings in Florida, where peace proposals were discussed.

Yermak's resignation could have tremendous consequences for domestic governance, as well as for Ukraine's negotiating position in talks over ending the war with Russia, where he had served as the head of Ukraine's delegation to peace talks with the White House. It's a mini revolution in the political system and the governance system, said Kyiv-based political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko. Yermak was the key element in the system of power that Zelensky had built.