Overview
- Ukraine says the U.S.-mediated framework advanced on post-conflict security guarantees and reconstruction financing.
- Kyiv reported no agreement on the status of Donetsk or on how to manage the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
- Delegations worked through a 20-point plan in meetings on Dec. 19–21 and largely finalized terms except for the territorial and nuclear issues.
- The Mainichi reports the U.S. has floated a Ukrainian pullback from Donetsk with a demilitarized free economic zone, which Kyiv ties to reciprocal Russian withdrawals.
- For Zaporizhzhia, the U.S. proposed joint management by the U.S., Ukraine and Russia, a role Ukraine rejects for Moscow; Zelensky also spoke by phone with U.S. envoy Whitcomb and Jared Kushner and said many decisions could come before the New Year.