President Vladimir Putin told some of Russia's top businessmen that he might be open to swapping some territory controlled by Russian forces in Ukraine but that he wanted the whole of Donbas, the Kommersant newspaper reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would be willing to withdraw troops from the country’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end Russia’s war, if Moscow also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.

Ukrainian military says ‘numerous explosions’ at Novoshakhtinsk refinery; Zelenskyy says ‘very good’ talks held with Trump envoys. What we know on day 1,402

The town of Siversk had served as a stronghold in the portion of eastern Donetsk still under Ukrainian control. Moscow wants Kyiv to surrender the town as part of a peace deal.

Russia fired more than 650 drones and three dozen missiles at Ukraine in a major pre-Christmas attack, killing at least three people including a child.

David Silbey, associate professor, Cornell University said the Ukraine conflict in 2025 showed: “The static warfare of the First World War all over again. In that war, any visible movement was punished by a hail of machine gun and artillery fire, here it’s drones.

Ukraine’s president has floated a possible compromise to a key Russian demand that Kyiv give up territory in eastern Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s proposal could address one of the main sticking points that have bogged down U.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed "substantive details" of a Ukraine-Russia peace deal with President Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Christmas.