Kyiv 'not rushing to resolve conflict by peaceful means,' Putin says

Russia claims to have taken full control of two cities in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia as Ukraine's President Zelenskyy heads to Florida for talks with US President Trump.

The Kremlin late on Saturday released a video of Russian President Vladimir Putin in military uniform receiving reports from top military officials in an unidentified military command post. 

Russia’s General Staff chief, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, reported to Putin that the Russian troops have taken full control of the Ukrainian cities of Myrnohrad in the Donetsk region — Russia uses the old Soviet name of the city, Dimitrov — and the city of Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region. 

“The liberation of Dymytrov (Myrnohrad) and the liberation of the city of Huliaipole are important results of the combat operations. As for Dymytrov, this is a serious step towards the complete liberation of the Donetsk People's Republic,” said Putin in an address. 

There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian officials. 

Ukraine's General Staff on Saturday afternoon reported attempts by the Russian forces “to push Ukrainian defenders from their positions” in a number of areas, including Myrnohrad, and Kyiv's forces repelling “enemy attempts to advance” in the areas of Huliaipole and Bilohiria. 

Speaking with military officials, Putin reiterated that “if Kyiv authorities are not willing to end the matter peacefully, we will achieve all the goals we have in the special military operation by military means.” 

Putin said that there are now “smart people in the West who recommend that the Kyiv authorities accept decent terms for ending the conflict, and provide good basic conditions for ensuring Ukraine’s security in the long historical perspective, conditions for restoring relations with the Russian Federation and restoring the Ukrainian economy.”

Zelenskyy-Trump talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to meet US President Donald Trump on Sunday to try to close out a peace agreement that would end nearly four years of war that began with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The two will meet at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Florida, where the US leader is spending the holidays and has an agenda mostly filled with daily rounds of golf. Zelenskyy said the two planned to discuss security and economic agreements and he will raise “territorial issues” as Moscow and Kyiv remain fiercely at odds over the fate of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

In the days before the meeting, Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine's capital, using missiles and drones to attack Kyiv and try to increase the pressure on Zelenskyy.

“Ukraine is willing to do whatever it takes to stop this war,” Zelenskyy posted Saturday on X. “We need to be strong at the negotiating table.”

In response to the attacks, he wrote: “We want peace, and Russia demonstrates a desire to continue the war. If the whole world — Europe and America — is on our side, together we will stop" Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Saturday, Zelenskyy said the key to peace is “pressure on Russia and sufficient, strong support for Ukraine.” To that end, Carney announced US$1.8 billion more in economic assistance from his government to help Ukraine rebuild.

Denouncing the “barbarism” of Russia’s latest attacks on Kyiv, Carney credited both Zelenskyy and Trump with creating the conditions for a “just and lasting peace” at a crucial moment.

Trump and Zelenskyy sitting down face-to-face also underscored the apparent progress made by Trump’s top negotiators in recent weeks as the sides traded draft peace plans and continued to shape a proposal to end the fighting. Zelenskyy told reporters Friday that the 20-point draft proposal negotiators have discussed is “about 90 percent ready” — echoing a figure, and the optimism, that US officials conveyed when Trump’s chief negotiators met with Zelenskyy in Berlin earlier this month.

During the recent talks, the US agreed to offer certain security guarantees to Ukraine similar to those offered to other members of NATO. The proposal came as Zelenskyy said he was prepared to drop his country’s bid to join the security alliance if Ukraine received NATO-like protection that would be designed to safeguard it against future Russian attacks.