Zelensky Agrees to Near-Term Trump Meeting as 20-Point Peace Framework Gains Traction

Overview

• Ukraine says draft texts tied to the plan are nearly finished after talks in Kyiv with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with Zelensky adding that key decisions could come before the New Year.
• The updated 20-point proposal envisions freezing the current front line and drops a demand that Ukraine renounce NATO aspirations, though territorial questions and the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant remain unresolved.
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Russia is formulating its position and confirms follow-up contacts between Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov and U.S. officials after receiving printed proposals from Miami meetings.
• Russia has not publicly accepted the draft as Kommersant reports Putin signaled possible limited territorial exchanges but insisted that the Donbas is nonnegotiable, a claim not formalized by the Kremlin.
• Fighting continues as Ukrainian officials report Russian drone strikes that damaged three ships near Odesa and Mykolaiv and hit rail infrastructure in Kovel, with no casualties reported.