KIEV, Ukraine — Russia celebrated the New Year by launching more than 200 drones over Ukraine, while President Vladimir Putin used his year-end address to rally support for his troops and assure his country of victory.
In Ukraine itself, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s December 31 address was full of defiance, but also full of optimism about the frantic shuttle diplomacy being conducted by the United States.
Zelensky said Russia, whose officials are also in talks with the Americans, remains the central blocker to peace, with Putin sticking to his maximalist demands.
“I would give anything in the world if, in this address, I could say that in a few minutes there will be peace,” Zelensky said just before the strike of midnight. “Unfortunately, I can’t say that yet. But with a clear conscience, I – we all – can say that Ukraine is really doing everything for peace.”
The Ukrainian leader returned from a Florida meeting with President Donald Trump on Sunday. Later, Zelensky said that Trump had offered important 15-year “security guarantees”, which he said are necessary to prevent Putin from attacking again. Ukraine had asked for 50 years, he said.
Hours before ringing in the New Year on Wednesday, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff posted on X He held talks with Zelensky, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustam Umerov and national security advisers from Britain, France and Germany.
In his post on X, Umerov said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were also on the call.
Although Zelensky said that “the peace agreement is 90 percent ready,” he suggested that the remaining 10% contains the most complex issues preventing peace.
“They are the 10% who will determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe, how people will live,” he said. “Ten percent to save millions of lives. Ten percent determination is needed to work one hundred percent for peace. Ten percent unity and wisdom are desperately needed from the entire world – Ukrainian, American, European. Ten percent for peace.”
The Ukrainian leader described what it has been like to have a tumultuous year trying to maintain the goodwill of Trump, a key and transformative figure in the peace process. “It was not at all easy to achieve such a change in the tone of relations between Ukraine and the United States,” Zelensky said after clashing with Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance at an extraordinary White House meeting in February.
Trump has often sided with Russia over Ukraine during these negotiations and has at times been criticized for excluding Ukraine and Europe from the process.
“Without Ukraine, nothing will work. Ukraine has defended its right to raise its voice,” Zelensky said, later adding: “Ukraine is, in fact, the only shield that now separates the comfortable life of Europe from the Russian world.”
Hours after Zelensky spoke, Russia launched 205 drones at Ukraine — mostly Iran-designed Shehad and some Russian Gerbera drones, according to the country’s military. It said air defense systems shot down 176 of these but recorded 24 strikes at 15 locations. Shelling also took place on the contact line between Russia and Ukraine.
At least two people were killed and more than a dozen injured across the country, according to regional officials.
For its part, Ukraine launched an attack against Russia’s Rosreserv oil depot in the Yaroslavl region, Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, said in a statement. The SBU said it was “the latest attack designed to cut the supply chain of Russian petroleum products with surgical precision to troops attacking abroad and Ukraine.”
Russia claimed this week that Ukraine attempted to assassinate Putin in a drone strike on his country residence, but Ukraine denied that and the CIA concluded that was not true, a source with knowledge of the matter told NBC News.
In his New Year’s address, Putin said his country was striving to “bring happiness and warmth” to people in need as well as to the “heroes” fighting in Ukraine. He said, “I wish all our soldiers and commanders a happy New Year! We have faith in you and our victory.”
Darina Meyer reported from Kiev and Alexander Smith reported from London.
