Britain will lead European forces to ensure Ukraine’s security as part of a proposed peace deal to end the war with Russia.
It comes as the nation’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, praised the ‘solid’ progress of peace talks in the United States.
The leader said that ‘nearly 90%’ of Ukraine’s demands have been incorporated into the draft agreements. The backbone of the proposed deal is a 20-point plan, he said.
There is also a framework document on security guarantees between Ukraine, European countries, and the US, as well as a separate document on bilateral security guarantees granted to Ukraine by the US.
According to Mr Zelensky, the provisions being discussed include European forces under the leadership of the UK and France, and with a ‘backstop from the US, ensuring ‘Ukraine’s security in the air, on land, and at sea.’
Mr Zelensky said: ‘Some key countries will provide presence in these domains; others will contribute to energy security, finance, bomb shelters, and so on.’
Ukraine is arguing that this bilateral document should be reviewed by the US Congress, with some details and annexes kept classified, Mr Zelensky said.
The US team is now in talks with Russian envoys, and Washington has asked that no details be released, he added.
Despite his optimistic outlook on the talks, Ukraine was hit by a series of Russian attacks on Tuesday morning after the latest round of negotiations. One person was confirmed dead in the western region of Khmelnytsky, while another was killed in Kyiv.
UK troops in training in Salisbury. The British army will lead European forces in ensuring Ukraine’s security guarantees, according to a new proposal in the peace deal
A Russian attack on Kostiantynivka in Donetsk region on December 20. Despite the peace talks, Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine
Several Ukrainian regions have also been left without power in the height of winter after Vladimir Putin’s forces attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, according to its energy minister.
Several fires broke out in regions across the country in the aftermath of Russia’s bombardment, officials said.
While initial drafts of US proposals for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia meet many of Kyiv’s demands, Mr Zelensky suggested that neither side in the almost four-year war is likely to get everything it wants in talks on reaching a settlement.
‘Overall, it looks quite solid at this stage,’ he said. ‘There are some things we are probably not ready for, and I’m sure there are things the Russians are not ready for either,’ Mr Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv.
US President Donald Trump has for months been pushing for a peace agreement.
However, the negotiations have run into sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv.
But US envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday he held ‘productive and constructive’ talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives.
‘We are talking. It’s going OK,’ Mr Trump said on Monday while on holiday at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Asked if he planned to speak to Mr Zelensky or Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr Trump did not say, offering only of the fighting, ‘I’d like to see it stopped’.
Meanwhile, Mr Zelensky said on Monday he met with his military commanders who reported that defensive lines are holding firm against the Russian onslaught.
‘In (recent) weeks, the Russian army has significantly increased the intensity of attacks, and the number of Russian losses has increased accordingly,’ he said in a post on Telegram.
Mr Zelensky has praised the ‘solid’ progress of peace talks in Miami. However, Russia launched an attack on Kyiv after the latest round of negotiations
Ukrainian forces hit an oil terminal, a pipeline, two parked jet fighters and two ships in a series of strikes on Russian soil, officials said on Monday.
The killing of a top Russian general by a car bomb in Moscow on Monday, with investigators suspecting Ukraine was behind it, could be another instance of Kyiv picking surprise targets.
Ukrainian partisans also set fire to two Russian jet fighters in an operation on Sunday evening at a base near Lipetsk, a city in western Russia, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said only that its forces shot down 41 Ukrainian drones overnight, three of them over the Krasnodar region.
