Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke for two hours on Saturday with U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, discussing territorial issues and security guarantees, two sources familiar with the conversation told Axios.

Most important events

• The war in Ukraine has lasted 1 382 days
• Will Europe wait for Putin to send 700,000 troops to the Baltics? A Russian victory will cost more than a Ukrainian success
• The Russians attacked several Ukrainian regions overnight. Authorities report power outages and wounded civilians
• Free St. Petersburg in the grip of fear. Russia's cultural heart is turning into a laboratory of repression. Books, music and humor are disappearing
• Zelensky had a long phone call with Witkoff and Kushner
• Survey: More than 60 percent of Americans want Ukraine to win in the fight against Russian aggression

22:02 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced on Saturday that he would send a trade delegation to Russia in the coming days. He will travel to the country as part of preparations for the period after the end of the war in Ukraine. Orbán made this statement at a pre-election rally in Kecskemét. TASR writes about it according to the AFP agency.

According to Orbán, the delegation will focus on economic cooperation, especially in the post-war period. The Hungarian prime minister argues that Russia should be re-integrated into the Western economy after the war.

"We have to think ahead, because if God helps us and the war ends without us being drawn into it, and if the American president succeeds in reintegrating Russia into the global economy and the sanctions are lifted, we will find ourselves in a different economic situation," Orbán said.

21:40 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke on the phone for two hours with American negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Saturday. They discussed territorial issues and security guarantees. This was reported to the Axios portal by two unnamed sources familiar with the content of the conversation, TASR reports.

Zelensky described the conversation on the social network X as"long and substantial", during which he and the American side agreed on the next steps and the format of further negotiations. The call took place after a meeting on Tuesday between American negotiators and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom they discussed the American peace plan for Ukraine.

A source with direct knowledge of the matter said that Witkoff and Kushner gathered information from both sides of the conflict and pressured both Putin and Zelensky to make the concessions necessary to reach an agreement.

Another unnamed source admitted that the discussion on territorial issues is difficult. Russia still demands that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the parts of Donbas it controls. The United States, he said, is trying to find new solutions to resolve the issue.

Another topic of discussion was the United States' security guarantees for Ukraine. One source said the parties had made significant progress and were close to an agreement, but further efforts were needed to ensure that both sides interpreted the draft security guarantees in a similar way.

"The main issues of concern are territorial issues and security guarantees. Our goal is to ensure that the agreed solutions are realistic, fair and sustainable," Ukraine's ambassador to Washington, Olga Stefanishyna, told Axios on Saturday.

"We need to gather all the proposals and consult," an unnamed Ukrainian official told Axios.

Ukrainians doubt Russia's capture of Pokrovsk, but say it could affect peace talks

21:33 At least six people aged 38 to 69 were injured after a Russian air bomb hit the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk this evening, the head of Ukraine's Donetsk region administration, Vadym Filashkin, said. One person was injured in an explosion in the Russian city of Belgorod, which media reported was hit by an air bomb dropped from a Russian plane.

A civilian was injured in Belgorod and power outages continue in the city and its surroundings"due to the impact of unspecified munitions," Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on social media, adding that the damage is being repaired.

A Russian air bomb landed near the substation – which is why there was no air raid warning in the city before the explosion and no warnings of a drone strike, Belgorod news channel Pepel reported, adding that before the explosion, residents of the city heard the roar of a plane flying towards the Ukrainian border. “The explosion was so powerful that shrapnel, clay and stones rained down on the roofs of houses,” he wrote.

20:40 On December 6, 2025, on Armed Forces Day of Ukraine and St. Nicholas Day, the Department of Active Actions of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (HUR) together with The Resistance Movement against the Russian Occupation conducted an operation in Kherson region. During it, according to HUR,"two occupiers and their vehicle were eliminated"

20:02 More than 60% of Americans support providing US weapons to Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression and want Ukraine to win the war. As reported by the news website Ukrainska Pravda, this is according to a survey by the Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute.

Ukraine should win the war, according to 62% of respondents. At the same time, 64% are in favor of American arms supplies to Kiev, which is nine percentage points more than last year. According to the survey, support for NATO in the US has increased to a record 68%.

The survey was conducted from October 23 to November 3 on a sample of 2,507 respondents.

The destruction of the city of Pokrovsk: Russians claim to have taken it, Ukrainians deny it

18:27 A special unit of the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Service (HUR) has hit a Russian Buk-M3 anti-aircraft missile system near the occupied village of Svyatotroytske in the Zaporozhye region in the southeast of the country. This was reported by the news website Ukrainska Pravda, citing military intelligence.

"Experienced members of the special unit tracked down the enemy's Buk-M3 anti-aircraft missile system on December 6 and successfully hit it on the Day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," HUR said.

"Another expensive air defense system operated by the Russian attackers was burned," she added.

18:14 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke on the phone with US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Saturday. He described the conversation as"long and substantial", and agreed with the US side on the next steps and the format of further negotiations. According to him, Ukraine is determined to continue cooperation with the US side in order to achieve real peace. He reported this on the social network X, TASR writes.

"We addressed many aspects and discussed key points that could ensure an end to the bloodshed and eliminate the threat of a new Russian full-scale invasion, as well as the risk that Russia will not keep its promises, as has happened repeatedly in the past," he wrote.

The call was also joined by Ukraine's chief negotiator Rustem Umerov and Chief of the General Staff Andriy Hnatov. Both are in Florida, where they are holding talks with Kushner and Witkoff for the third day. Zelenskyy wants to meet with them soon to discuss the progress of the talks, as several topics cannot be discussed over the phone.

A statement released by the US State Department on Saturday night said both sides in the talks agreed that real progress toward any peace agreement"depends on Russia's willingness to demonstrate a genuine interest in lasting peace, including steps to de-escalate and stop the killing."

Attack on the Russian port of Temriuk on the coast of the Sea of Azov

14:29 British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will receive Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in London on Monday. At the joint meeting, they will continue negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine. The PA Media news agency reported this on Saturday, TASR reports.

The leaders of the four countries attended a virtual meeting of the so-called coalition of the willing, convened by Macron and Starmer, two weeks ago. Starmer plans to use the meeting in London to express Britain's support for Ukraine. They will discuss, among other things, the ongoing talks between American and Ukrainian officials.

14:23 Ukrainian forces struck and damaged one of Russia's largest refineries in Ryazan, located about 200 kilometers southeast of Moscow, overnight. The Ukrainian General Staff announced this today. This is at least the ninth attack by Ukrainian drones on the Ryazan refinery since the beginning of this year, noted the Astra news channel operating on the Telegram social network.

Ukrainian forces also struck the Alchevsk Metallurgical Plant in the occupied part of Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine, which is involved in the production of Russian ammunition. The plant was damaged by fire, the General Staff said.

Ukrainian drones last attacked Ryazan on November 20. The enterprise is supposed to be able to process up to 17.1 million tons of oil per year, producing four types of gasoline, diesel fuel and 840,000 tons of aviation kerosene per year, and thus plays a significant role in supplying the Russian army and air force.

Kiev explains the attack on the refinery and other targets deep inside Russia as an attempt to weaken the military and economic potential of the Russian aggressors and force Russia to end the war against Ukraine, which has been going on for four years.

12:56 A Czech helicopter unit was also activated as a precaution today due to the Russian night raid on Ukraine. The outgoing Minister of Defense, Jana Černochová (ODS), announced this to Czech Television. Three Czech Mi-171Š helicopters have been helping to defend the eastern wing of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) on Poland's eastern border since September. There was ultimately no threat over Poland and the unit returned to base, Černochová said. The Polish Air Force also took off due to the Russian raid.

Lukáš Štěrba from the press department of the General Staff of the Czech Army said in response to a question from ČTK that the Czech helicopter unit is performing operational tasks in Poland in accordance with alliance commitments."For security reasons, we will not provide further information on the timeline or the number of activations," he said.

The deployment of Czech helicopters to eastern Poland was a response to an earlier Russian drone attack that also hit Polish territory. According to the military, the unit is to operate in Poland for several months, its main task being to strengthen the Polish armed forces in their airspace protection tasks.

"For preventive reasons of protecting Poland's eastern border, a Czech helicopter unit was activated to assist the Polish Air Force. There was no intervention, there was no threat over Polish territory, the unit returned to base," Černochová said, according to ČT.

10:00 Russian bookseller Lubov Beljatskaya laments with a sigh the"atmosphere of pervasive fear and anxiety" that has spread in her native St. Petersburg as a result of the war against Ukraine. The city, once dubbed Russia's"window to Europe," is considered the country's cultural capital, where independent thought, artistic expression and dissent have always flourished, AFP reported.

9:58 The Russian military sent more than 700 drones and 30 Kh-101, Iskander-K, Iskander-M and Kalibr missiles to attack targets in Ukraine on Saturday night, again targeting mainly railway and energy infrastructure.

According to the Ukrainian military, 615 drones were shot down or disabled by electronic warfare systems. Drone and missile strikes were recorded in 29 locations in Ukraine. At least four people were injured, including an 11-year-old boy. The British BBC reported this on Saturday, citing the rescue service, TASR reports.

9:38 Slovakia today experienced a slight decrease in gas supplies from Ukraine. Drone attacks in Dnepropetrovsk region also injured an 11-year-old boy, the Ukrainska Pravda server reported, citing local authorities. Russia reported a Ukrainian attack on Ryazan and Voronezh regions.

Ukraine's Energy Ministry said on its Telegram account that a large-scale Russian attack had damaged power plants and energy distribution facilities in the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Lviv, Odessa, Zaporizhia, Dnepropetrovsk, Mykolaiv and Kharkiv regions, and reported power outages in almost all affected parts of Ukraine.

"Work on repairing energy infrastructure continues where safety conditions permit. Energy companies are doing everything they can to restore supplies to all customers as quickly as possible," the ministry added.

A drone attack in the Dnipropetrovsk region injured a boy in the city of Nikopol. In Dnipro and other cities, the attack was caused by fires, the Ukrainska Pravda server added, citing local authorities."Our air defense has shot down 40 drones over the Dnipropetrovsk region since the evening," said the acting head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, Vladyslav Khayvanenko.

8:25"If we really want to live up to the fine speeches about the struggle for democracy, we should not even consider whether Ukraine needs to be supported in a way that at least puts it in a more advantageous position," Karsten Friis of the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs told Pravda. He is the co-author of a new study that assesses how much Kiev's victory would cost Europe and how much it would have to invest if Vladimir Putin's regime's aggression is successful.

8:20 AM The negotiations on the possible use of proceeds from frozen Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine were constructive and the European Union should continue to seek a unanimous position. This was agreed on late Friday evening by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after a meeting with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, which did not yield a fundamental breakthrough.

7:35 The leader of the Russian Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, on Friday promised Kiev retaliation within a week in response to the strike on a high-rise building by an apparently Ukrainian drone in the city of Grozny, Reuters reported.

Kadyrov said in a post on the Telegram platform that the drone attack caused no casualties and that the strike on the building complex “had no tactical significance.” According to state media and footage posted on social media, the drone strike caused a fire in the building and shattered its glass facade on at least five floors.

"Starting tomorrow, Ukrainian fascists will feel a harsh retaliation over the next week," Kadyrov said in a later post on Telegram."However, unlike them, we will not cowardly attack peaceful targets," he stressed.

‼️BREAKING || UKRAINE DRONES ATTACK ZELENSKY'S OLD FOE KADYROV IN CHECHEN CAPITAL GROZNY

In Chechnya, the Grozny City Tower was damaged during the Ukrainian aerial attack.

The drones targeted floors occupied by Ramzan Kadyrov's Security Council of The Chechen Republic. pic.twitter.com/LH959KWWJc

— Bloomberg Whistleblower (@bloombergblower) December 5, 2025

Ukrainian attacks have previously hit several sites in Chechnya, including police barracks and a military training academy. The predominantly Muslim region has been ruled since 2007 by Ramzan Kadyrov, a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine, where he has sent thousands of Chechen soldiers to fight, AFP added.

6:29 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed his former chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, from the National Security Council in connection with a wide-ranging corruption investigation that has rocked Kiev, the DPA agency reported.

According to two presidential decrees published on Friday, Yermak is no longer a member of the Supreme Command of Ukraine's armed forces. The longtime ally of the president resigned as chief of staff last week after anti-corruption authorities raided his office. It is not yet clear whether the raids were linked to a corruption scandal involving bribery in the energy sector.

Yermak has been the head of the presidential administration since February 2020 and was considered the second most powerful man in Ukraine. He was also one of Kiev's chief negotiators in the talks to end the war. The position is currently held by former Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

6:10 Representatives of the United States and Ukraine agreed during talks in Florida that progress towards peace depends on Russia's willingness to show genuine interest in peace and take steps to end the killing. The US State Department said this after a second day of talks on Friday. The talks between special envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, Secretary of the Ukrainian Security Council Rustem Umerov and Chief of the General Staff Andriy Hnatov will continue on Saturday.

"Both sides agreed that real progress towards any agreement depends on Russia's readiness to demonstrate a genuine interest in lasting peace, including steps to de-escalate and end the killing," the US diplomatic statement said.

The parties held talks in this format on Thursday, and both meetings were constructive, according to a US statement. Witkoff and Kushner briefed Ukrainian officials on their meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday, the conclusions of which have been discussed by the Americans and Ukrainians over the past two days, the US diplomatic service said.

American negotiators in Moscow presented Putin with a revised American plan to end the war, drafted by representatives of Kiev and European countries. Putin said on Thursday that the plan included points that Russia did not agree with and that Ukrainian troops would either leave the Donbass region or Moscow would seize it by force.

Ukraine has been defending itself against Russian invasion with the help of the West for four years, and the original form of the current American plan was perceived as very friendly to Russia.

The bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II was unleashed by Putin in February 2022 by ordering Russian troops to invade the neighboring country. Russia controls more than 19 percent of Ukraine's land area, or 115,600 square kilometers, which is one percentage point more than two years ago, Reuters recently noted. However, it added that according to Ukrainian analysts, Russian troops are making the fastest advance this year since 2022. However, Russian troops have not yet conquered all of Donbas, where Kiev does not want to give up the belt of fortifications protecting the remaining large cities controlled by Ukraine, namely Kramatorsk and Slovyansk.