Overview
- President Volodymyr Zelensky says Washington is pressing for a Ukrainian withdrawal from parts of Donetsk and insists any territorial compromise must be decided by voters through elections or a referendum.
- Kyiv names Donetsk and control and access at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as the key unresolved issues in the talks and denies reports it has agreed to a Donbass buffer zone.
- The Kremlin states a ceasefire would come only after a Ukrainian retreat from the Donbass and signals likely dissatisfaction with a revised plan, while rejecting broader European roles and warning any foreign ‘peacekeepers’ would become targets.
- Officials from Ukraine, France, Germany and the United Kingdom are set to gather in Paris on Saturday to work on the plan, with a possible Berlin meeting next week under discussion and U.S. representation still undecided.
- EU ambassadors advanced a legal step under Article 122 to keep Russian assets immobilized indefinitely for potential Ukraine financing, with Hungary and Slovakia opposing the move.