On this seize from a video offered by the Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine on Friday, Dec 12, 2025, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy information a video on the street coming into of Kupiansk, Ukraine.
AP/Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine
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AP/Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine
U.S. envoys arrived in Berlin Sunday morning for one more spherical of talks supposed to safe a deal to finish the conflict in Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s particular envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner had been noticed in downtown Berlin by a photographer for German information company dpa.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukrainian, U.S. and European officers will maintain a collection of conferences in Berlin within the coming days.
“Most importantly, I will be meeting with envoys of President Trump, and there will also be meetings with our European partners, with many leaders, concerning the foundation of peace — a political agreement to end the war,” Zelenskyy stated in an handle to the nation late Saturday.
Washington has tried for months to navigate the calls for of every facet as Trump presses for a swift finish to Russia’s conflict and grows more and more exasperated by delays. The seek for doable compromises has run into main obstacles, together with management of Ukraine’s jap Donetsk area, which is usually occupied by Russian forces, and safety ensures for Ukraine.
“The chance is considerable at this moment, and it matters for our every city, for our every Ukrainian community,” Zelenskyy stated. “We are working to ensure that peace for Ukraine is dignified, and to secure a guarantee — a guarantee, above all — that Russia will not return to Ukraine for a third invasion.”
Robust obstacles remainRussian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that Ukraine withdraw its forces from the a part of the Donetsk area nonetheless beneath its management and abandon its bid to affix NATO among the many key situations for peace — calls for Kyiv has rejected.
Putin’s overseas affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov informed the enterprise day by day Kommersant that Russian police and nationwide guard troops would keep in components of jap Ukraine’s Donbas even when they grow to be a demilitarized zone beneath a potential peace plan — a requirement prone to be rejected by Ukraine as U.S.-led negotiations drag on.
Ushakov warned {that a} seek for compromise may take a very long time, noting that the U.S. proposals that took under consideration Russian calls for had been “worsened” by alterations proposed by Ukraine and its European allies.
“We don’t know what changes they are making, but clearly they aren’t for the better,” Ushakov stated, including: “We will strongly insist on our considerations.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has spearheaded European efforts to assist Ukraine alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and U.Okay. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, stated Saturday that “the decades of the ‘Pax Americana’ are largely over for us in Europe and for us in Germany as well.”
He warned that Putin’s intention is “a fundamental change to the borders in Europe, the restoration of the old Soviet Union within its borders.” “If Ukraine falls, he won’t stop,” Merz warned on Saturday throughout a celebration convention in Munich.
Putin has denied plans to revive the Soviet Union or assault any European allies.
Russia and Ukraine alternate aerial attacksAs peace efforts continued, Russia and Ukraine exchanged one other spherical of aerial assaults.
Ukraine’s air drive stated in a single day Russia launched ballistic missiles and 138 assault drones at Ukraine. In its day by day report, the air drive stated 110 had been intercepted or downed however missile and drone hits had been recorded at six places.
Zelenskyy stated Sunday that a whole lot of 1000’s of households had been nonetheless with out energy within the south, east and north-east areas and work was persevering with to revive electrical energy, warmth and water to a number of areas following a large-scale assault the earlier evening.
The Ukrainian president stated that previously week, Russia had launched over 1,500 strike drones, practically 900 guided aerial bombs and 46 missiles of varied varieties at Ukraine.
“Ukraine needs peace on decent terms, and we are ready to work as constructively as possible. These days will be filled with diplomacy. It’s very important that it brings results,” Zelenskyy stated.
Russia’s Protection Ministry stated that air defenses downed 235 Ukrainian drones late Saturday and early Sunday.
Within the Belgorod area, a drone injured a person and set his home ablaze within the village of Yasnye Zori, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov stated.
Ukrainian drones struck an oil depot in Uryupinsk within the Volgograd area, triggering a fireplace, in keeping with the regional governor, Andrei Bocharov.
Within the Krasnodar area, the Ukrainian drones attacked the city of Afipsky, the place an oil refinery is situated. The authorities stated that explosions shattered home windows in residential buildings however did not report any injury to the refinery.