Ukraine: the United States is close to a framework agreement on security guarantees, according to Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine and the United States are close to finalizing a framework of security guarantees and economic arrangements linked to a proposed peace plan, while Russia has indicated it will seek to make significant changes ahead of any agreement to end the war.

Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on December 22, Zelensky said talks with US officials had produced a 20-point plan and accompanying documents including security guarantees involving Ukraine, the United States and European partners. He acknowledged the framework was not perfect, but described it as a tangible step forward.

“There are 20 points of the plan, everything is probably not perfect there, but this plan is there,” Zelensky said. “There are security guarantees between us, the Europeans and the United States of America, there is a framework document.”

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Zelensky said a separate bilateral document with Washington covering security guarantees should be considered by the US Congressadding that key annexes essential to Ukraine’s military needs have been widely accepted.

“I saw the first developments, there are almost 90%, to be honest, of those attachments that are important for us, on which our army and Ukraine can count,” he said, calling the project “completely correct.”

He also stated that a first version of a agreement on the recovery of Ukraine had been prepared, calling it an economic strategy which, together with the security documents, constitutes “the basic block of all documents”.

Zelensky, however, warned that diplomacy had not reduced Russia’s immediate military threat. He criticized Moscow for rejecting Christmas ceasefire proposalscalling it a “bad signal”, and warned of possible attacks during the holiday period.

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“When Russia says there will be no ceasefire at Christmas, I think that is, in principle, always what it says, it emphasizes intimidation,” Zelensky said. He added that Ukraine faced an air defense deficit and urged civilians to remain vigilant.

Reuters also reported that Zelensky confirmed that Russian forces had captured a border village in Ukraine’s Sumy region, taking dozens of civilians and 13 Ukrainian soldiers prisoner. He said Ukrainian troops refrained from striking Russian forces due to the presence of civilians. Reuters noted that it could not independently verify the story and that Russia had no comment.

On the Russian side, the Kremlin declared President Vladimir Putin has been informed of the US peace proposals and Moscow is expected to formulate its position in the coming days, according to Reuters and the Anadolu Agency.

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Bloomberg News reported that Russia considers the 20-point plan agreed between Ukraine and the United States as just a starting point. According to a source close to the Kremlin, Moscow intends to secure key changes, including additional restrictions on Ukraine’s military, arguing that the proposal lacks important provisions for Russia and leaves many questions unanswered.

The emerging positions underscore a widening gap between kyiv’s description of progress on security guarantees and Moscow’s insistence on renegotiating key elements of the U.S.-backed plan. diplomacy continues.

Reuters contributed to this report.