Zelensky, European leaders to meet on Jan. 6 in France following high-level meetings
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional comments from President Volodymyr Zelensky's evening address on Jan. 1.
Ukraine is preparing to host a new round of high-level security discussions with Western partners in early January, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Dec. 30, signaling an effort to maintain diplomatic momentum.
Zelensky said on Jan. 1 that European "Coalition of the Willing" leaders will meet with the Ukrainian president on Jan. 6, with Zelensky previously announcing that the meeting will be held in France.
"We are starting this year — starting with diplomacy — and continuing our dialogue with our partners," Zelensky said in his evening address on New Year's Day.
The leader-level meeting in France will culminate a days of high-level talks between Ukrainian, European, and U.S. officials.
National security advisers from the Coalition of the Willing countries, led by the U.K. and France, have agreed to meet in Ukraine on Jan. 3, according to Zelensky, with U.S. advisors joining virtually. The talks will be followed by a meeting of the chiefs of general staffs of various countries on Jan. 5.
"We are preparing now to ensure the meeting is productive, that support increases, and that political confidence grows both in the security guarantees and in a peace agreement," Zelensky said ahead of the anticipated leader-level talks.
Zelensky recently returned from the U.S. where he held a two-hour meeting on Dec. 28 with U.S. President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. Kyiv's 20-point peace plan and security guarantees for Ukraine outlined for a period of 15 years, with a possibility for an extension, were among the issues discussed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone with Trump before and after that meeting claiming that Ukraine tried to assassinate him by launching drones at his residence in the Novgorod region.
Zelensky dismissed the claim, adding that Russia was "looking for a pretext" to undermine ongoing peace negotiations. He thanked Trump's team on Dec. 30 for "their readiness to participate in all effective formats" of ongoing peace negotiations.
"We are not losing a single day," Zelensky said.
As Ukraine's push for peace continues, Russia has stepped up its mass attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, with the Energy Ministry reporting on Dec. 30 unprecedented strains on Kyiv and Odesa oblasts.
