By Hannah Parry, Shane Croucher, and John Feng
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he had not reached agreement on Donald Trump's peace deal as he ruled out ceding territory to Russia.
“There are visions of the US, Russia and Ukraine – and we don’t have a unified view on Donbas,” Zelensky told Bloomberg. He also said that he had not received clarification on the big question Ukrainians had, “If Russia again starts the war, what will our partners do?” Zelensky was speaking shortly before he met with European leaders British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz, in London, in a show of unity for Ukraine.
President Trump mocked Europe's involvement on Monday, sharing an opinion piece which praises him for sideling "impotent Europeans" from the Ukraine peace talks. Trump has also criticized Zelensky, accusing him of not reading the latest peace proposals.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin welcomed Trump's new National Security Strategy, which sharply criticized European NATO allies, saying it largely cohered with Moscow's vision of the world.
What To Know
- Trump, speaking at the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday, said he was "a little bit disappointed" that Zelensky hasn't already read the latest proposals for peace and that Russia is "fine with it," adding: "But I'm not sure that Zelensky's fine with it. His people love it. But he hasn't read it."
- Rustem Umerov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, held several days of talks in Florida with Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner after the pair's hours-long meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Umerov said he would give Zelensky the "full information" on Monday from the talks.
- Putin had called the Moscow talks "necessary" and "very concrete," though the Kremlin still had strong objections to some of the proposals and that no compromise deal had been reached. Major obstacles include the division of territory, control of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, and security guarantees for Ukraine.
- The Kremlin also said on Sunday that Trump's National Security Strategy, which has echoes of the 19th-century "Monroe Doctrine" that established the Western Hemisphere as the U.S. sphere of influence, is “largely consistent with our vision" and "a positive step." The strategy says the U.S. now has a policy against NATO expansion.
- The European Union's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said at the Doha Forum on Saturday that she agreed with some of the Trump strategy document: “Europe has been underestimating its own power toward Russia, for example. We should be more self-confident, that’s for sure.”
Newsweek's live blog is closed.
Dec 08, 2025 at 03:07 PM EST
Trump shares opinion piece which praises him for sidelining ‘impotent Europeans’ from Ukraine peace plan
President Donald Trump has shared an opinion piece which praises him for sideling "impotent Europeans" from the Ukraine peace talks.
Trump shared the headline, "Impotent Europeans can only fume as Trump rightly sidelines them from Ukraine deal," and article link from the New York Post.
It comes as peace talks continue between Ukraine and Europe, Ukraine and the U.S. and the U.S. and Russia.
Dec 08, 2025 at 02:30 PM EST
Moscow says Trump’s new national security strategy ‘corresponds in many ways with our vision’
Moscow has welcomed the President Donald Trump's administration's new national security strategy as it stops calling Russia a "direct threat," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.
"The adjustments that we see correspond in many ways to our vision," Peskov told state television, according to TASS.
The new strategy no longer refers to Russia as a direct threat and instead urges the U.S. to work with Moscow. It also says it is a "core" interest of the U.S. to end the war in Ukraine, and warns Europe faces "civilizational erasure."
"We considered this a positive step," Peskov said.
Dec 08, 2025 at 01:57 PM EST
NATO’s post-WW2 naval dominance under serious threat: Military chief
The dominance Western countries like the United Kingdom have enjoyed for decades in the Atlantic Ocean is under threat from Russia, the head of the British Navy has said.
The British government has said it has seen a 30 percent increase in Russian vessels posing a threat to U.K. waters in the past two years, and the country's military has intercepted several Russian ships this year.
The powerful position nations like the U.K. have long had in the Atlantic "is at risk," the chief of the U.K.'s Royal Navy, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, said in a speech in central London on Monday.
"We are holding on, but not by much," Jenkins said. "There is no room for complacency."
Read in full: NATO’s Post-WW2 Naval Dominance Under Serious Threat: Military Chief
Dec 08, 2025 at 01:23 PM EST
Zelensky says unity between Europe, Ukraine and US is ‘crucial’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that unity between Europe, Ukraine and US is "crucial" to achieving peace.
Speaking after a joint meeting in Europe on Monday, Zelensky wrote on X, "What is crucial today is unity between Europe and Ukraine, as well as unity between Europe, Ukraine, and the United States. I am grateful to the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany –@Keir_Starmer, @EmmanuelMacron, and @bundeskanzler – for organizing the meeting and for each of their personal contributions on the path toward achieving peace.
"Today, we held a detailed discussion on our joint diplomatic work with the American side, aligned a shared position on the importance of security guarantees and reconstruction, and agreed on the next steps. We also held a separate discussion on further defense support for Ukraine. I am grateful to the leaders for their willingness to stand with our people and help us on the path toward bringing peace closer."
Dec 08, 2025 at 12:33 PM EST
Trump may walk away from Ukraine, says Donald Trump Jr.
U.S. President Donald Trump may walk away from Ukraine, his son Donald Trump Jr. said on Sunday as the latest attempt to broker an end to the war since Russia’s invasion in 2022 showed little sign of progress.
Trump Jr. was scathing about corruption in Ukraine under President Volodymyr Zelensky and said the war there was not a big issue for Americans – ranking far below U.S. drug deaths at a time the president is waging war on alleged narcotic traffickers in Latin America.
Newsweek submitted a request for comment to the Ukrainian presidency outside business hours.
Trump Jr. was asked at the Doha Forum in Qatar whether it was his hunch that President Trump was going to walk away from Ukraine.
“I think he may,” Trump Jr. responded.
“What's good about my father, and what's unique about my father is you don't know what he's going to do: the fact that he's not predictable. He's not following the playbook of every clown who's, again, been a bureaucrat for decades.”
Trump Jr. criticized European countries complaining about his father’s attempts to secure a peace deal they say would reward Russian aggression when they are not willing or able to do more themselves.
Read in full: Trump May Walk Away from Ukraine, Says Donald Trump Jr.
Dec 08, 2025 at 12:03 PM EST
Hillary Clinton blasts both Trump, Biden administrations for not being more assertive in helping Ukraine against Russia
Speaking at the Doha Forum in Qatar, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was critical of Trump’s relationship with allies and his policy in Ukraine, describing it as: “Supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, both in an affirmative way by very rarely criticizing Putin for the brutal war that he has waged on the Ukrainian people and then attempting to try to coerce the Ukrainians into accepting a negotiated ceasefire and peace deal.”
“Putin is intent upon taking as much of Ukraine as he can. I think we could have played, both in the Biden administration and now in the Trump administration, a much more assertive role in trying to help Ukraine continue to do the very job it’s doing defending itself.”
Dec 08, 2025 at 11:35 AM EST
WATCH: Trump says he’s disappointed with Zelensky for not reading peace proposal
Dec 08, 2025 at 11:06 AM EST
Map shows which countries demanded Russia return Ukrainian children
On Wednesday, 91 countries endorsed a draft resolution that "demands that the Russian Federation ensure the immediate, safe and unconditional return of all Ukrainian children who have been forcibly transferred or deported," the United Nations said.
According to the U.N., 12 countries voted against the draft resolution and 57 abstained.
The resolution expressed serious concern over Ukrainian children who have been separated from their families since Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, including those moved within occupied areas and those deported to Russia.
Read in full: Map Shows Which Countries Demanded Russia Return Ukrainian Children
Dec 08, 2025 at 09:32 AM EST
Germany’s Merz ‘sceptical’ about US position
Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, said at Downing Street he was “sceptical” about aspects of the U.S. position on bringing about and end to the war, but did not give further details.
Merz said he was “sceptical about some of the details which we are seeing in the documents coming from US side, but we have to talk about that - that’s why we are here.”
Dec 08, 2025 at 08:43 AM EST
Zelensky meets with leaders in London at “critical stage” of Russia war
...
The four leaders meeting in London—the U.K.'s Starmer, France's Macron, Germany's Merz, and Ukraine's Zelensky—gave brief remarks to the media before entering into their closed-door talks.
Prime Minister Starmer said the world is now at "a critical stage now in the push for peace" and made clear that Kyiv's European partners still "stand with Ukraine" in pressing for a "just and lasting ceasefire".
President Zelensky said it was important for the leaders to meet and discuss "very sensitive issues" and show that there is "unity between Europe and Ukraine," and also with the U.S., as tensions grow with Washington after the White House published its national security strategy, a document that upbraided European NATO allies and that pleased the Kremlin.
Zelensky said there are "things which we can't manage without America, things which we can't manage without Europe, and that's why we need to make some important decisions".
President Macron said that "we all support Ukraine and we all support peace, and peace negotiations to have a sustainable, robust peace."
But, in comments that hark back to U.S. President Trump's previous criticism of Zelensky that he had no cards to play, Macron said: "I think we have a lot of cards in our hands."
Macron cited the ongoing financing of equipment for Ukraine's defense, the persistent resistance by Kyiv's forces to the Russian invasion, and that the Russian economy is "starting to suffer" after waves of sanctions.
The French leader stressed that there must now be a "convergence" of U.S. and European positions in order to find peace in these negotiations and bring about the best outcome for Ukraine and Europe.
Chancellor Merz said it "could be a decisive time for all of us," adding that "we are still and remain strongly behind Ukraine" because "we all know that the destiny of this country is the destiny of Europe".
Dec 08, 2025 at 08:24 AM EST
Poland convenes urgent Baltic states meeting over Russia-Ukraine
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said he had convened an "urgent meeting" with his counterparts in the Council of Baltic Sea States.
"The topic is obvious: Europe's security and the war in Ukraine," Sikorski said in a post on X.
Magnus Tsahkna, Estonian foreign minister, said Russia's frozen foreign assets—much held in Europe—were a key subject of discussion.
The European Union is weighing what to do with the tens of billions of dollars in Russian assets frozen within its jurisdiction.
Some member states want to seize the assets to fund a reparations loan to Ukraine, but others fear the costly legal risks of doing so.
"Russia’s frozen state assets are Europe’s strongest leverage," Tsahkna said. "Using them to finance Ukraine is the decisive step Europe must take now."
Tsahkna thanked Sikorski for "convening a very timely discussion" in a post on X.
Dec 08, 2025 at 07:59 AM EST
Merz, Macron arrive at Downing Street to meet with Zelensky and Starmer
...
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have now both arrived at 10 Downing Street in London, where they were greeted by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer ahead of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The meeting of the key members of the Coalition of the Willing—European NATO allies who have pledged to be part of Ukraine's future security guarantees against further Russian aggression, including, potentially, putting boots on the ground when peace is agreed—will "focus on the ongoing peace negotiations and next steps," according to Downing Street.
It comes as a Ukrainian team finishes the latest round of peace talks with Trump envoys in Florida. They were due to brief Zelensky on the full details of those talks early on Monday ahead of his meeting in London.
Dec 08, 2025 at 07:14 AM EST
EU slaps back at Trump White House over new strategy attack
A top European Union official on Monday warned the United States against interfering in Europe’s affairs and said only European citizens can decide which parties should govern them.
The new White House national security strategy set out a policy of "cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" and accused its allies of democratic backsliding on issues like free speech.
European Council President Antonio Costa said it is “good” that the Trump strategy makes clear European nations are allies, but “allies don’t threaten to interfere in the domestic political choices of their allies."
“What we can’t accept is the threat of interference in European political life. The United States cannot replace European citizens in choosing what the good or the bad parties are,” he said in Paris at the Jacques Delors Institute, a think tank.
Costa, who chairs summits of the 27 national EU leaders, said Europe’s “history has taught us that you can’t have freedom of speech without freedom of information.”
The Trump strategy document said U.S. diplomacy "should continue to stand up for genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ individual character and history."
"America encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism," it said.
"Our goal should be to help Europe correct its current trajectory. We will need a strong Europe to help us successfully compete, and to work in concert with us to prevent any adversary from dominating Europe."
Dec 08, 2025 at 07:00 AM EST
Russia hails Trump’s new national security strategy, warns on future
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was full of praise for U.S. President Donald Trump's new national security strategy, which was critical of European allies and NATO while pressing the need to stabilize relations with Moscow.
“We understand that by removing the irritants that currently exist in the bilateral framework, a prospect may thus open up for us to, shall we say, truly restore our relations and bring them out of a rather deep state of crisis,” Peskov said at a press briefing on Monday, originally in Russian, state media reported.
“It speaks of the need for dialogue and the building of constructive, good relations. This cannot help but be appealing, and it fully aligns with our vision."
...
But Peskov warned that things could shift again when Trump leaves power: “What will happen next, with the next administration, is something hardly anyone would venture to predict now."
The new Trump strategy urged European nations to regain their confidence against Russia and take the primary responsibility for security on their continent away from the U.S.
It claimed they face "civilizational erasure" due to mass immigration, economies burdened by regulation and welfare, and democratic backsliding on issues such as free speech.
The strategy warned that U.S. allies in NATO may not be reliable in the future. It also said the U.S. would oppose the continuing expansion of NATO, a big strategic win for Russia.
But the strategy also made clear that a strong Europe was critical to U.S. security and economic interests.
Dec 08, 2025 at 06:08 AM EST
Zelensky reacts after latest Trump criticism
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was "a little bit disappointed" in him for, Trump said, not having read the latest peace proposals.
“There is one question I—and all Ukrainians—want to get an answer to: if Russia again starts the war, what will our partners do,” Zelensky told Bloomberg News after Trump's comments.
A Ukrainian team was meeting with Trump's envoys in Florida to discuss the proposals in light of a meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Ukrainians were due to brief Zelensky today with the full details of those talks and proposals.
Zelensky is in London to meet with British, French, and German leaders who would form part of a security guarantee for Ukraine after the war.
He told Bloomberg that Kyiv wants a separate agreement on security guarantees from Western allies, including the U.S.
The Ukrainian leader also said the U.S. proposals for peace with Russia need further discussion on "sensitive issues," namely security guarantees and the division of territory in eastern Ukraine.
Russia is demanding that Ukraine hand over the remaining 20 percent of the Donbas that it still controls.
“There are visions of the U.S., Russia and Ukraine—and we don’t have a unified view on Donbas,” Zelensky said.
Dec 08, 2025 at 05:43 AM EST
Russian media reacts to US strategy: “Trump isn’t their daddy anymore”
The BBC's Russia Editor Steve Rosenberg has run through the Russian media's reaction to the new Trump national security strategy, including one Moscow newspaper's take that "Trump isn't their daddy anymore," a reference to an earlier remark by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. Watch below:
Dec 08, 2025 at 05:25 AM EST
Ukraine says new Russia strikes hit civillians, including children
...
Ukraine said Russia had struck several regions overnight into Monday, "leaving civilian casualties and widespread damage," according to Kyiv's foreign affairs ministry.
"In the Dnipro region, one person was killed and five injured, including two children. Russian attack damaged residential buildings, an administrative facility, and vehicles," the ministry said in its update.
"In Chernihiv, a Russian drone fell on a residential building, injuring three people, one of whom was hospitalised.
"In the Sumy region, a Russian drone strike on a nine-storey building in Okhtyrka set several flats on fire from the 2nd to 5th floors. Rescuers evacuated 35 people and freed seven more–including a child–from damaged apartments.
"In the Kyiv region, Russian drones hit Fastiv again, igniting the roofs of two buildings and damaging nearby homes and administrative structures.
"Each Russian strike must be met with more air-defence systems and strengthened support for our defenders."
Dec 08, 2025 at 05:17 AM EST
Ukraine’s top commander lays out urgent need for manpower to fight Russia
...
General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, made clear that he needs more troops to bolster Kyiv's defense against the ongoing Russian invasion.
Russia has a much deeper well of recruits and conscripts to draw from, enabling it to sustain huge losses on the battlefield by replenishing with wave after wave of troops.
"The enemy continues its offensive, so we have no choice but to strengthen our defense capabilities and reinforce our army in order to continue repelling the full-scale Russian aggression," Syrskyi said in an update shared to Facebook, originally in Ukrainian.
"The key focus of our efforts is not equipment, but people. Mobilization, recruiting, new contracts — and therefore high-quality training. In training our personnel, we cannot remain stagnant; we must develop and move forward."
Syrskyi said the quality of basic training must improve.
"The duration of basic combined military training has already been increased to 51 days," he said. "In addition, there is specialized training and an adaptation period within the units. The demands of the time require us to improve this process, raise the level of instructors, and upgrade training center equipment so that in the end we have a truly combat-ready soldier."
The commander also said they were moving training "further away from the front line, assigning army corps to training grounds in central and western Ukraine."
Russian attacks on troop training facilities are potentially of great cost to Kyiv because of its acute manpower problem.
Syrskyi said he has "stressed that the construction and equipping of shelters in training centers must be accelerated and require immediate organizational decisions."
"At some facilities, safety conditions are unsatisfactory!" Syrskyi continued. "We have no right to neglect the safety of our service members. I issued the necessary orders to resolve these problematic issues."
Dec 08, 2025 at 04:58 AM EST
Russia claims forces have taken control of two more settlements in Ukraine
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that its southern forces had taken control of Chervone in Donetsk and its eastern forces had captured Novodanilovka in Zaporizhia.
Its claims could not be immediately verified, but they chime with analyst views that Russia is making small gains on the battlefield as it drives on to maximize its pressure on Ukraine in the ongoing peace negotiations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened that if Ukraine does not hand over the remaining territory under its control in the eastern Donbas region, then Moscow's military will take it by force.
But Russia's beleaguered troops could still take years to capture the 20 percent of the Donbas still in Ukraine's control, military analysts say.
The Kremlin's claim that it had captured Pokrovsk, timed with a meeting between Putin and Trump envoys, was disputed by Ukraine, who said fighting continues to rage in the key logistics hub in Donetsk.
Dec 08, 2025 at 03:59 AM EST
Trump’s outgoing Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg says peace deal very close
...
Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg, who is set to leave his post at the end of his term in January, said the process to end the war is in “the last 10 meters".
Speaking on Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California, Kellogg said a deal depended on the two outstanding issues of “terrain, primarily the Donbas,” and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
Russia controls most of Donbas, its name for the Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk regions, which, along with two southern regions, it illegally annexed three years ago.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is in an area that has been under Russian control since early in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and is not in service.
It needs reliable power to cool its six shutdown reactors and spent fuel, to avoid any catastrophic nuclear incidents.
"If we get those two issues settled, I think the rest of the things will work out fairly well," Kellogg said, per Reuters. "We're almost there. We're really, really close."
Kellogg was not at the talks in Florida between Trump envoys and a Ukrainian delegation.
Russia views Kellogg as too close to Kyiv and prefers to deal with Witkoff, who the Kremlin sees as much more open to its arguments.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines