As Ukraine marked its third Christmas at war with Russia on December 25, 2025, a flurry of diplomatic activity signaled that peace—while still elusive—might be inching closer. The day was anything but quiet in Kyiv and Moscow, with high-level talks, tense battlefield updates, and new proposals on the table. But will any of these efforts finally bring an end to Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking after a nearly hour-long call with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, expressed cautious optimism. According to BBC, Zelensky described the conversation as productive, saying it had yielded “new ideas in terms of formats, meetings, and... timing on how to bring a real peace closer.” He characterized the day as “active” for Ukrainian diplomacy and hinted that another meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump was in the works. “Together with the American team, we understand how to put all of this in place,” Zelensky stated.
Earlier in December, Zelensky had outlined an updated 20-point peace plan, hammered out with U.S. envoys in Florida. The plan, according to BBC, includes the potential withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from certain eastern regions, the establishment of a demilitarized zone, and—crucially—security guarantees from the U.S., NATO, and European countries. These guarantees would ensure a coordinated military response if Russia were to invade again. Zelensky also floated the idea of a “free economic zone” in the industrial Donetsk region, though he stressed that any area vacated by Ukrainian troops would still be policed by Ukrainian forces.
But if there’s progress, it’s incremental and fraught with complications. The Kremlin, for its part, is poring over the latest proposals. Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Moscow was “examining this material, and depending on the decisions made by the head of state, we will continue our communication with the Americans.”
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin convened top Russian businessmen at the Kremlin on December 24 to brief them on his own vision for a Ukraine peace deal. Reporting from Reuters and the Russian newspaper Kommersant reveals that Putin is sticking to his guns on one major point: he wants the whole of Donbas. “Donbas is ours,” Putin reportedly declared, but he indicated a willingness to consider a partial exchange of territories outside that region. This marks a subtle shift, as previously Russia’s demands were even more sweeping.
Putin also introduced a new element into the negotiations: the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe and currently under Russian control. He suggested the possibility of joint Russian-U.S. management of the plant and noted U.S. interest in crypto mining near the facility. According to Kommersant, Putin proposed that the plant could be used to partially supply electricity to Ukraine—an unexpected olive branch, or perhaps a strategic bargaining chip.
Yet, the thorniest issues remain unresolved. Zelensky, in remarks released by his office and cited by Reuters, said that while Ukrainian and U.S. delegations had made headway on the 20-point plan, they still “had not found common ground on demands that Ukraine cede the parts of Donbas that it still controls—or on the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.” For Zelensky and many in Kyiv, ceding any more territory is a nonstarter. He has faced intense pressure from Trump and his envoys to relinquish all of Donbas to Russia, but has repeatedly rejected such territorial concessions, insisting instead on “iron-clad security guarantees” for Ukraine’s future.
Putin’s position, meanwhile, is clear: any peace deal must be based on Ukraine withdrawing from Donbas, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, as well as officially renouncing its aspirations to join NATO. As of late December 2025, Russian forces control all of Crimea (annexed in 2014), about 90% of Donbas, 75% of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, and smaller parts of several other regions, according to Russian estimates. The scale of these demands leaves little room for easy compromise.
The backdrop to these talks is hardly peaceful. On the same day as Zelensky’s call with the U.S. envoys, Ukrainian forces struck Russia’s Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in the southern Rostov region with cruise missiles—a facility critical for fueling Russian military operations in occupied eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Russian defense ministry announced the capture of Sviato-Pokrovske in Donetsk, following Ukrainian troop withdrawals from the embattled town of Siversk earlier in the week. These developments bring Russian forces closer to the last major Ukrainian-held cities in Donetsk: Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
Despite the ongoing violence, the diplomatic machinery continues to grind. The U.S. team, led by Witkoff and Kushner, has been deeply involved in shuttle diplomacy since 2025, engaging not just Ukraine and Russia but also European powers. The initial draft of the peace plan, prepared by Witkoff, was widely criticized by Kyiv and its allies for leaning too heavily toward Russia’s pre-invasion demands—essentially requiring Ukraine’s de facto capitulation. The updated version, by contrast, appears to reflect more of Ukraine’s red lines, though significant gaps remain.
It’s not just the fate of Donbas and Zaporizhzhia at stake. The issue of international security guarantees looms large. The proposed plan would see the U.S., NATO, and European countries commit to a coordinated military response if Russia were to violate the agreement. Such guarantees are seen in Kyiv as essential to prevent a repeat of the 2022 invasion and to reassure a war-weary population that any settlement won’t simply be a prelude to further aggression.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin is signaling both intransigence and flexibility. While Putin repeats his demand for all of Donbas and major Ukrainian withdrawals, he has also left the door open to “partial exchanges” of territory elsewhere and to joint management of key infrastructure like the Zaporizhzhia plant. Whether these are genuine offers or just bargaining tactics remains to be seen.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. For Ukraine, any deal that involves further territorial loss is deeply unpopular and politically perilous. For Russia, consolidating gains in Donbas and other regions is seen as a vindication of its costly campaign. For the U.S. and its allies, the challenge is to broker a settlement that restores stability to Europe without rewarding aggression.
As Ukraine enters its fourth year of war, the diplomatic dance continues—sometimes hopeful, often exasperating, and always shadowed by the realities on the ground. Whether these new ideas and proposals will finally bring peace, or simply set the stage for another round of conflict, remains the pressing question on everyone’s mind.
