The president is extremely frustrated with both sides involved in this war, and he's tired of meetings that serve no other purpose than to meet, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters. He doesn't want any more talk. He wants action. He wants this war to end, she continued.
Discussions have accelerated since the US administration proposed, nearly three weeks ago, a plan to resolve the war triggered by the large-scale Russian invasion of February 2022, which incorporates several major demands from Moscow.
While Kyiv submitted an amended version of the text earlier this week, including counter-proposals, the Ukrainian president confirmed on Thursday that the United States wanted to conclude an agreement as soon as possible. According to Volodymyr Zelensky, the two key issues remaining to be negotiated are control of the eastern region of Donetsk, where most of the fighting is taking place, and the status of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, occupied by Moscow in southern Ukraine.
Mr. Zelensky assured journalists, including those from AFP, that Washington sees Ukrainian forces withdraw from the part of the Donetsk region that they still control and which would be transformed into a free economic zone or demilitarized zone.
In exchange, the Russian army would withdraw from the areas under its control in the regions of Sumy, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk (north, northeast and east-central), but would remain in those of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia (south).
The Donetsk region, more than 80% controlled by Russia, and the neighboring Luhansk region, almost entirely under its control, constitute the Kremlin's priority objective in Ukraine.
Moscow has been claiming their annexation since 2022, as well as that of two other southern regions, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, which are partially occupied by Russian forces.
Election or referendum
The idea of a demilitarized zone in territories that Russia has not managed to conquer in nearly four years of intense fighting would represent a major concession by Kyiv, which would nevertheless avoid formally renouncing it.
Who would govern this territory, which they are already calling a “free economic zone” or a “demilitarized zone,” they don’t know, noted Mr. Zelensky, referring to the United States.
His advisor Mikhail Podoliak, however, seemed to agree with this idea, telling the French daily Le Mondethat a demilitarized zone must exist on either side of the linewhere a foreign contingent would be deployed: This is a natural format for the end of a conflict, knowing that part of the territory will unfortunately remain under de facto Russian occupation and that a separation line will be established in any case.
Mr. Zelensky asserted that, in any case, an election or referendum would be necessary in Ukraine to resolve the territorial issue. On Tuesday, he had stated his readiness to hold a presidential election if the security of the vote could be guaranteed by the United States, in conjunction with the Europeans.
Russian Assets
The version of the American plan revised by the Ukrainians during negotiations in Geneva and Florida has not been made public. A document divided into four parts was also submitted to the Kremlin during a trip by US envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow last week.
These American efforts come at a difficult time for Ukraine: the presidency has been destabilized by a vast corruption scandal involving relatives of Volodymyr Zelensky, the army is retreating on the front, and the population is suffering from power cuts due to Russian strikes.
We held a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, and this is an important format for supporting Ukraine's security now and in the future. We are working to ensure that the security guarantees include serious components of European deterrence and are reliable, and it is…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 11, 2025
On the ground, the Russian army claimed on Thursday the capture of the town of Siversk, in the Donetsk region (east), one of the last strongholds preventing it from approaching the major regional towns of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, located about thirty kilometers further west.
An announcement denied by the command of the Ukrainian troops on the eastern front, which mentions small groups of Russian soldiers attempting to infiltrate Siversk.
The coming week will be decisive for Ukraine, stressed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, after participating Thursday in a meeting of the Coalition of the Will, which brings together supporters of Kyiv.
Touched base with partners from the Coalition of the Willing during a very intense week of peace talks.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 11, 2025
Despite the pressure, we remain absolutely firm in our goal: achieving a just and sustainable peace for Ukraine.
Sustainable means that any peace agreement must not contain…
In addition to discussions on a settlement of the conflict, the coming days will be marked by a summit of European leaders on December 18, where the possible use of frozen Russian assets in Europe to help Ukraine will be debated.
On this issue, the 27 countries of the European Union have removed a key obstacle by making permanent the sanctions against Moscow which serve as the basis for their immobilization, the Danish presidency of the EU announced.
