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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reaffirmed his refusal to cede any territory, resisting U.S. pressure for a painful compromise with Russia as he continued to rally European support for Ukraine.
As well, Zelenskyy said Ukraine and its European partners will soon be ready to present to the U.S. “refined documents” on a peace plan to end the war.
“The Ukrainian and European components are now more developed, and we are ready to present them to our partners in the U.S.,” he wrote on X. “Together with the American side, we expect to swiftly make the potential steps as doable as possible.”
Still, as he’s stated in the past, Zelenskyy admitted that “everything depends on whether Russia is ready” to end fighting.
Zelenskyy in a separate post also said he had briefed Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on “the situation in Ukraine, on the front line, and on our efforts to ensure resilience.” He thanked Canada for its continued support of Ukraine — which included a recent announcement of $200 million for military equipment, purchased through the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), and international mechanism set up by NATO and the U.S. administration.
The Ukrainian president met early Tuesday with Pope Leo at Castel Gandolfo, a papal residence outside Rome, and is to have talks with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni later.
Zelenskyy said his country “deeply appreciates” the humanitarian support of Pope Leo.
“I informed the Pope about diplomatic efforts with the United States to achieve peace. We discussed further actions and the Vatican’s mediation aimed at returning our children abducted by Russia,” he wrote on X.
The Holy See has tried to remain neutral in the war while offering solidarity and assistance to what it calls the “martyred” people of Ukraine. Leo has met now three times with Zelenskyy and has spoken by telephone at least once with Putin.
Ukrainian officials say 19,000 children have been forcibly transferred to Russia since the war began, including many with complicated health issues.
The U.S.-born pope has called for a ceasefire and urged Russia in particular to make gestures to promote peace.
The Pope “reiterated the need for the continuation of dialogue and expressed his urgent desire that the current diplomatic initiatives bring about a just and lasting peace,” the Vatican said in a statement.
“In addition, the questions of prisoners of war and the need to assure the return of Ukrainian children to their families were also discussed,” said the Vatican, which has mediated between Kyiv and Moscow on the children issue.
Several points struck from original plan: Zelenskyy
U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators completed three days of talks on Saturday aimed at trying to narrow differences on the U.S. administration’s peace proposal. An early version from the U.S. caused confusion and riled European allies who felt shut out from the process.
Investments are being made across Europe to shore up its defence capabilities in the face of increased Russian aggression and an uncertain defence alliance with the United States. Andrew Chang explores the steps Europe is taking to deter a possible Russian attack.
Images provided by The Canadian Press, Reuters and Getty Images
Zelenskyy said the current U.S. peace plan differs from earlier versions in that it now has 20 points, down from 28, after he said some “obvious anti-Ukrainian points were removed.” On On Monday, the Ukrainian president met with the leaders of Britain, France and Germany, as well as NATO and European Union officials.
European leaders are working to ensure that any ceasefire is backed by solid security guarantees both from Europe and the U.S. to deter Russia from attacking again. Trump has not given explicit guarantees in public.
In an interview with Politico released Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump again pressed Zelenskyy to accept the U.S. proposal that Ukraine cede territory to Russian President Vladimir Putin, arguing that Russia retains the “upper hand” and that Zelenskyy’s government must “play ball.”
A major sticking point in the U.S. plan is the suggestion that Kyiv must cede control of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine to Russia, which illegally occupies most but not all of the territory. Ukraine and its European allies have firmly resisted the idea of handing over land.
Zelenskyy and his European allies have repeatedly accused Putin of slow-walking the talks to press ahead with the invasion as his forces are making slow but steady gains while waves of missiles and drones pummel Ukrainian infrastructure.
The United Nations Security Council is scheduled Tuesday morning to meet on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, in a meeting chaired by Slovenia.
In overnight fighting, Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia fired 110 drones of various types across the country last night. They said air defences neutralized 84 drones, but 24 more struck their targets.
Several regions of Ukraine faced emergency blackouts Tuesday due to Russia’s prior attacks on energy infrastructure, according to Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo.
Ukraine, in its turn, continued its drone attacks on Russia.
Russian air defences destroyed 121 Ukrainian drones overnight above various Russian regions and occupied Crimea, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said Tuesday. In Chuvashia, a region about 900 kilometres northeast of the border with Ukraine, the attack damaged residential buildings and injured nine people, local governor Oleg Nikolayev said in an online statement.
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