Britain will lead European forces ensuring Ukraine's security as part of peace deal - as Zelensky praises 'solid' progress in US talks
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.
Ukraine is also working on a wider framework for security guarantees involving European nations and the United States, as well as a separate agreement covering direct security commitments from Washington.
Mr Zelensky said proposals include deploying European troops led by the UK and France, backed by the US to protect Ukraine across air, land and sea.
He explained that while some countries would provide forces on the ground, others would offer support in areas such as energy security, financial aid and the construction of bomb shelters.
Ukraine is arguing that this bilateral document should be reviewed by the US Congress, with some details and annexes kept classified, Mr Zelensky said.
He added that US officials are currently in discussions with Russian representatives, and that Washington has requested that no information from those talks be released.
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. Several people, including children, are said to have been injured.
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.
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 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.
Zelensky's comments come after US intelligence warned that Putin has not abandoned his aim of capturing all of Ukraine and attempting to claim parts of Europe that were once in the Soviet empire.
Yesterday, it was reported that Putin has claimed he is ready to guarantee it has no plans to attack NATO. But several European officials have repeatedly sounded the alarm that the Russian leader could attempt an attack within five years.
In a grim warning, the organisation's secretary general said earlier this month: 'We are Russia's next target. Too many don't feel the urgency.'
