Ukraine is determined to pursue peace talks while preparing for a drawn-out war, the NYT said. Zelenskyi attends a Coalition of the Willing meeting in Paris. Ukraine drones hit a missile arsenal and oil depot in Russia.
Ukraine determined to pursue peace talks while preparing for drawn-out war, NYT says
With Russia still seen as unlikely to stop fighting, the Ukrainian leader’s tone has shifted from upbeat to cautionary, The New York Times said on Tuesday. The paragraphs below are quoted from the article.
As Ukraine peace talks have stretched on for nearly a year, through fits and spurts and dozens of rounds, President Volodymyr Zelensky has accentuated the positive. The talks are now “90 percent complete,” he said. Ukraine works every minute to end the war, he insisted.
But in recent days, with the question mark of Russia’s willingness to accept any deal still hanging over the negotiations, Mr. Zelensky has made some of his most skeptical comments in months. Ukraine, he said, is simultaneously talking and preparing for the war to rage on.
“I do not want and will not wait another six months hoping that maybe it will work,” Mr. Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv over the weekend. “There are two paths: The first priority is ending the war, the second is being prepared for negative steps by Russia — for its unwillingness to end the war.”
Ukraine and the United States have yet to reach agreement on territorial issues and on control of a Russian-occupied nuclear power plant. Kyiv and Washington have drawn up a rough outline for security guarantees, but crucial questions remain unresolved, and progress has been plodding.
On top of that, Russia has flatly rejected some Ukrainian proposals. “I understand that we are very close to results, but at some point, Russia may block everything,” Mr. Zelensky said.
He has cast a recent reshuffle of his government and security apparatus as necessary to build Ukraine’s resilience in case talks fail.
The moves, Mr. Zelensky said, reflected Ukraine’s determination to maintain two primary tracks: pursuing talks while preparing for a drawn-out war.
In other news, Head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Andriy Hnatov said on January 3 that the U.S. and Ukraine agreed a military document at the level of the countries’ general staffs that stipulates support to the Ukrainian army after peace is achieved. The document consists of four parts and has four annexes, he added.
In his nightly address on Sunday, Zelenskyi restated Ukraine’s determination to pursue peace talks while preparing for a continued war.
“Ukraine will be prepared for both possible paths ahead – diplomacy, which we are pursuing, or continued active defense if the pressure from our partners on Russia proves insufficient. Ukraine seeks peace. But Ukraine will not give up its strength to anyone,” he said.
Zelenskyi attends meeting of Coalition of the Willing in Paris
The Coalition of the Willing is meeting in Paris on Tuesday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi is attending the gathering in person.
According to BBC News, Zelenskyi has been speaking separately with French President Emmanuel Macron, and U.S. mediators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. At the time of this writing, Zelenskyi was expected to address the media following the meeting of the Coalition of the Willing. Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz were expected to join Zelenskyi during the press update.
Paris and London, co-leading the Coalition of the Willing, want to discuss and find common ground on five points, according to the Elysée official, Politico said: How a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine would be monitored; support for Ukraine’s military; a multinational reassurance force in Ukraine once the war ends; commitments to support Kyiv if a ceasefire is violated by Moscow; and long-term defense cooperation deals with Ukraine.
When asked on Monday if the EU will offer its security guarantees to Ukraine as part of the Coalition of the Willing’s commitment or in a separate move, European Commission Chief Spokesperson Paula Pinho said: “There is one clear security guarantee [for Ukraine] which is a prospect of accession of Ukraine to the EU, this is what the EU can offer independently.”
Ukraine drones hit missile arsenal, oil depot in Russia
Ukrainian troops struck a missile arsenal and oil depot in Russia overnight on Tuesday, an unnamed official from Ukraine’s Security Service told news site Ukrainska Pravda on Tuesday. The drones hit Russia’s 100th Main Missile and Artillery Directorate in the Kostroma region. The drone attack on the site triggered a secondary detonation of ammunition, causing powerful blasts at the facility, the source said. The drones also struck an oil depot in the Lipetsk region, sparking an intense blaze.
Russian defense ministry said the country’s air defenses shot down 129 Ukrainian drones overnight on Tuesday. Most of the drones, 29, were shot down over the Bryansk region, with other intercepts taking place over the Belgorod, Yaroslavl, Novgorod, Smolensk, Kursk, Penza, Tver, Bashkortostan, Astrakhan, Rostov, Kaluga, Moscow, Oryol, Leningrad, Voronezh, Kostroma, Tula, Tambov, Ryazan, Tatarstan regions and in Russia-occupied Crimea.