‘Pivotal week for diplomacy’ say EU, NATO – DW – 12/01/2025

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Paris on Monday, where he will meet French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss continued European support for Kiev as US President Donald Trump seeks to pressure Zelensky to make tough concessions to aggressive Russia in hopes of ending Vladimir Putin’s nearly four-year offensive.

On Sunday, US and Ukrainian negotiators held “meaningful” meetings in Florida, where peace proposals were discussed.

The US had previously issued a 28-point plan to negotiate an end to the war, however leaders in Kiev and across Europe felt that the US plan was too favorable to Russia, leading to a 20-point counterproposal.

On Sunday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said, “Peace is within reach, if (Russian President) Vladimir Putin gives up his illusory hope of reconstituting the Soviet empire by first subjugating Ukraine.”

Zelensky is dealing with the dual impact of intensified Russian military aggression in the form of a conventional war in eastern Ukraine and massive nightly drone and missile attacks on the civilian population of the capital Kiev, as well as internal government turmoil in the wake of corruption allegations that forced his chief of staff and right-hand man Andrei Yermak to resign on Friday.

Yermak was also the country’s top diplomatic negotiator.

“It is important that there is constructive dynamism in the talks and that all issues are discussed openly and with a clear focus on ensuring Ukraine’s sovereignty and national interests,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter after Sunday’s talks.

good day From the DW newsroom in Bonn, where, among many other things, we are covering the latest news on Russia’s war in Ukraine and international efforts to end it.

After lengthy meetings between Ukrainian and US negotiators in Florida on Sunday, attention turned back to Europe on Monday, where Ukrainian President Zelensky arrived in Paris for consultations with President Macron.

Despite calls for peace, a new report from SIPRI says arms sales have peaked as nations strengthen national security and continue to donate weapons for Ukraine’s defense.