Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that talks with the United States and European countries aimed at ending the nearly four-year war with Russia were very close to a real result, Reuters reported.
Ukrainian negotiators, led by senior Ukrainian representative Rustem Umerov, have held a series of meetings with American envoys, including in recent days in Florida. Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev also held separate talks with American representatives in Florida. The American negotiating team is led by Donald Trump's son-in-law – Jared Kushner and Trump's envoy – Steve Witkoff, Reuters recalls.
Officials in both Ukraine and Russia said their teams were returning home today to report on the outcome of the talks.
“Everything looks quite promising. And the important thing is that this is the result of efforts on both our side and the United States side. This shows that we are very close to achieving a real result,“ Zelensky said at a meeting with Ukrainian diplomats.
The president added that negotiators are working on a 20-point plan presented by US representatives, which has been under discussion for weeks after an initial draft from Washington was criticized by both Ukrainians and Europeans for being too favorable to Russia.
"Not everything is perfect in this plan, but it is here“, Zelensky said now.
Also up for discussion are the security guarantees that Ukraine wants against future Russian military action, as well as a plan for the country's economic recovery.
"The main part of all the documents is ready. This is the basis,“ Zelensky said. “There are some issues on which we are not ready. And I am sure there are some issues that the Russians are not ready for,” he added.
Late in his evening video address, Zelensky said the key issue was “to determine whether the United States is able to get a response from Russia, a real readiness on the part of this country to focus on something other than aggression.”
Zelensky also said that continued pressure on the Kremlin was vital to reducing Moscow’s ability to wage war. “The decline in the price of Russian oil, strong global sanctions and continued other forms of pressure are what can convince even the most stubborn person,” he said.
“A lot has already been done this year to reduce the means at the disposal of the Russian military machine,“ added the Ukrainian president.
At the same time, the Russian publication “Izvestia“ wrote, quoting Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, that talks on Ukraine over the weekend in Florida between Russian and American representatives should not be perceived as a breakthrough, Reuters reported.
Peskov said this in response to a question about whether the meeting held in Miami on December 20 and 21 could be perceived as a turning point. According to Peskov, this is a work process.
Damage was caused to the port infrastructure and a civilian ship as a result of the drone attack in Odessa tonight, the chairman of the Odessa Regional Military Administration Oleg Kiper announced on his Telegram channel.
At 7:46 p.m. this evening, the Ukrainian Black Sea city was subjected to a massive drone strike from the Black Sea.
All relevant services are working on the ground. There is no information about casualties so far.
The Bulgarians in the Odessa region number over 150,000 people and are the third largest in number according to the latest official census in Ukraine. About 50-60 thousand Bulgarians live in the city of Odessa itself. The largest compact Bulgarian population is concentrated in the Bolgradsky, Izmailsky and Belgorod-Dniester regions.