Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has given a positive assessment of a conversation he had with US envoys on how to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
Zelensky said Thursday's call with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, which lasted nearly an hour, had yielded 'new ideas in terms of formats, meetings, and... timing on how to bring a real peace closer'.
He spoke a day after providing details of an updated 20-point peace plan, agreed by US and Ukrainian envoys in Florida.
Zelensky said he had asked Witkoff and Kushner to pass along Christmas greetings to US President Donald Trump 'and the entire Trump family.'
The Kremlin said it was analysing proposals brought back from the US by a Russian envoy.
Trump and his envoys have been holding talks with both Ukraine and Russia in an effort to reach a deal to end the war that started with Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
There appears to have been some progress in recent days, with Ukraine's president praising the 'good ideas' put forward by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Kushner.
Zelensky said it had been an 'active day' for his country's diplomacy, as he went into details with the US envoys. He conceded that there was still 'work to be done on sensitive issues' but added that 'together with the American team, we understand how to put all of this in place'.
Zelensky added that the Ukrainian negotiator, Rustem Umerov, would speak again to the two envoys soon.
The 20-point peace plan agreed upon by the US and Ukraine is seen as an update to a plan drafted by Witkoff and Russian negotiators weeks ago, which was widely perceived as heavily swayed towards Russia's demands.
Describing the updated proposal, Zelensky had said it offered Russia the potential withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the east and the creation of a demilitarized zone in their place.
He emphasized that the revised plan now included security guarantees from the US, NATO, and Europeans for a coordinated military response if Russia invaded Ukraine again.
On the key question of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, Zelensky mentioned a 'free economic zone' as a potential option, asserting that any area from which Ukrainian troops withdrew would need to be policed by Ukraine.
On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated Moscow was analysing the proposals from the US shared by the Russian envoy, Kirill Dmitriev.
'We are analysing what Dmitriev passed on to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,' he said, indicating that future communication with the Americans would depend on Putin's decisions.
While diplomatic efforts to end the conflict inch forward, fighting continues on the ground. The Ukrainian military reported striking a critical oil refinery in Russia's southern region of Rostov, crucial for supporting military operations in occupied eastern Ukraine.
The Russian defense ministry claimed control over the settlement of Sviato-Pokrovske in the Donetsk region.
