HEADLINES

• Russia said it agrees that talks to end the Ukraine conflict are in their final stage. READ MORE BELOW

• Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he wants any plan to end the fighting with Russia to be signed by Ukraine, Russia, Europe and the United States. READ MORE BELOW

• French president Emmanuel Macron announced that Ukraine's allies will hold another Coalition of the Willing summit in Paris in early January.

• US President Donald Trump remarked that, although a deal was closer than ever to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, there was no breakthrough on the flashpoint issue of territory after new talks with the countries' leaders.

• The Kremlin said Ukraine must withdraw its troops from the part of Donbas that it still controls if it wants peace. READ MORE BELOW

• The Mariupol Drama Theater, which became one of the bombed-out symbols of a Russian siege of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine in 2022, has reopened after a huge redevelopment, Russian authorities have announced.

• The head of the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine said the facility could restart power generation by the middle of 2027 if the conflict concludes in the near future.

• Russian troops have taken control of the village of Dibrova in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, Russia's Defense Ministry reported.

IN DETAIL

Russia agrees that peace deal is close

The Kremlin said on Monday it agreed with comments by US President Donald Trump, who said a peace deal on Ukraine was "a lot closer".

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump spoke on Sunday ahead of Trump's meeting in Miami with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Asked by journalists if Moscow agreed with Trump's assessment following those talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "Of course".

The Kremlin also said that Ukraine should withdraw its troops from the part of Donbas that it still controls if it wanted peace, and that if Kyiv did not strike a deal then it would lose yet more territory.

Peskov refused to comment on the idea of a free economic zone in Donbas or on the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is controlled by Russia, saying that the Kremlin felt it was inappropriate.

When asked about Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov's remarks about the decision that Kyiv needed to take on Donbas, Peskov said that Ukraine should withdraw its troops from the parts they still controlled.

Russia currently controls a fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea which it has controlled since 2014, about 90 percent of Donbas, 75 percent of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and slivers of the Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, according to Russian estimates.

According to Ushakov, Trump and Putin agree that a "temporary ceasefire" would "merely prolong the conflict and risk a renewed escalation on the battlefield."

He said that Trump and Putin would speak again "promptly" after the Zelenskyy meeting, although there was no immediate news of a second call.

Zelenskyy wants deal signed by four sides

Zelenskyy said on Monday he wanted any plan to end hostilities with Russia to be signed by Ukraine, Russia, Europe and the United States.  

The Ukrainian president told journalists any plan "must be signed by four sides: Ukraine, Europe, America and Russia". He added that Kyiv hoped to "move forward quickly" and was "open" to any format of meetings.

The Ukrainian President said the issue of control over Ukraine's eastern Donbas region and the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant remained unresolved in the 20-point peace plan after his meeting with Trump.

After their talks, Zelenskyy and Trump spoke jointly by telephone with key European leaders, who have been particularly alarmed about any decisions that would embolden Russia.

Zelenskyy said that he and European leaders could return jointly for talks with Trump in Washington in January.

Trump's advisors have previously floated the idea of offering NATO-like security guarantees to Ukraine, meaning in theory that the alliance's members would respond militarily if Russia attacks again.

Zelensky said that the peace framework laid out by Trump was "90 percent agreed" and that "US-Ukraine security guarantees: 100 percent agreed."

He added that a 20-point peace plan to end the conflict should be put to a referendum in Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters in a WhatsApp chat, Zelenskyy argued that a ceasefire of at least 60 days would be necessary to hold such a referendum.

Separately, he pledged to lift martial law when the conflict ends and after it receives security guarantees.