President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sharpened his message to Western allies on Monday, declaring that Ukraine will not surrender any of its territory to Russia as part of a peace deal and insisting that Europe must stand firm against growing pressure from President Donald Trump. The shift in tone came during a day of high-stakes diplomacy in London, where Zelenskyy met British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to bolster Kyiv’s negotiating position.
The Vatican remained a symbolic presence in the background of the day’s diplomacy. The Holy See has attempted to remain neutral while expressing solidarity and humanitarian concern for what it calls the “martyred” people of Ukraine. Leo, who has met Zelenskyy three times and spoken once by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has repeatedly urged Moscow to take steps toward peace and called publicly for a ceasefire.
Zelenskyy’s latest push came as U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators concluded three days of talks aimed at narrowing differences in the U.S. administration’s evolving peace proposal. The most contentious element of the plan is the suggestion that Kyiv concede control of the Donbas region, which Russia illegally occupies but does not fully control. Zelenskyy and his European allies have rejected the idea outright, viewing territorial surrender as a dangerous precedent that could embolden Moscow.
Trump defended the concept in an interview with Politico. “You know, a lot of people are dying,” he said, claiming without naming them that unnamed Ukrainian officials favored the U.S. proposal. “His people loved the proposal. They really liked it. His lieutenants, his top people, they liked it, but they said he hasn’t read it yet.” He added that Russia’s size and power would ultimately prevail, arguing, “At some point, size will win, generally.”
The former president also renewed his insistence that Ukraine hold national elections despite martial law, saying Ukraine could “get to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore.” Zelenskyy, whose 2019 term was extended because of the war, responded cautiously, saying Trump “certainly wants to end the war. … Surely, he has his own vision. We live here, from within we see details and nuances, we perceive everything much deeper, because this is our motherland.”
Zelenskyy said the U.S. peace plan had been revised to remove “obvious anti-Ukrainian points,” shrinking the document from 28 to 20 items. But senior Ukrainian officials privately stressed that no version of the plan granting Russia permanent control of Ukrainian land could be politically or strategically acceptable.
European leaders echoed him. Starmer said the push for peace had entered a “critical stage” and emphasized the need for “a just and lasting ceasefire.” Merz, expressing reservations about some U.S. proposals, said Europe needed detailed discussions, noting, “The coming days … could be a decisive time for all of us.”
Macron, according to French officials, stressed that Europe must provide Kyiv with security guarantees strong enough to discourage future Russian attacks. Trump has not publicly offered such guarantees, fueling concern among European diplomats that Ukraine could be pushed into a vulnerable ceasefire.
The diplomatic tensions unfolded as both sides in the war escalated nighttime aerial attacks. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 110 drones of various types nationwide; air defenses intercepted 84, while 24 struck targets. Ukrenergo, the national energy operator, warned of emergency blackouts in several regions following earlier Russian hits on power infrastructure.
Ukraine answered with a broad drone assault on Russian territory. Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported destroying 121 Ukrainian drones across multiple regions and occupied Crimea. In Chuvashia, roughly 900 kilometers northeast of the border, regional governor Oleg Nikolayev said the attack damaged residential buildings and injured nine people.
A Ukrainian official confirmed to The Associated Press that Ukraine’s Security Service carried out a drone strike Dec. 5 on an LPG terminal at the port of Temryuk in Russia’s Krasnodar region. The attack set more than 20 LPG tanks ablaze, the official said, and the fire burned for over three days, damaging rail tankers and a fuel transfer facility.
Zelenskyy’s refusal to consider territorial concessions marks one of his clearest public positions since peace discussions intensified. His stance reflects deep domestic opposition to any deal perceived as rewarding Russian aggression, but it also signals concern that Trump’s growing influence may reshape the diplomatic landscape. European leaders fear that if Trump succeeds in framing territorial concessions as the fastest path to peace, Ukraine could be cornered into accepting a settlement that leaves the region unstable and encourages further Russian opportunism.
For Zelenskyy, rallying Europe has become as vital as deterring Russia. European nations see the war not merely as a regional conflict but as a test of the continent’s long-term security architecture. Any settlement that cements Russian control over Ukrainian territory risks redrawing the map of Europe by force—an outcome EU leaders say they cannot accept.
The Vatican’s call for a ceasefire underscores a broader moral urgency but also highlights its limited leverage. With Russia making slow gains on the ground and Ukraine struggling to safeguard its energy grid amid relentless drone attacks, the gap between diplomatic proposals and battlefield realities continues to widen. The coming weeks may determine whether the U.S., Europe and Ukraine can reconcile their approaches—or whether Zelenskyy will be forced to navigate a geopolitical divide that complicates both the war effort and the path to peace.
Source: AP
