Volodymyr Zelensky insists Ukraine peace deal is ’90 per cent’ done – but warns final stage will determine ‘fate of Europe’ and ‘save millions of lives’

Ukraine is only ’10 percent away’ from a peace deal, Volodymyr Zelensky said in his New Year’s speech.

However, the Ukrainian president also insisted in his 20-minute speech that he would not sign a “weak” agreement at any cost.

Mr Zelensky added that the final part of the agreement would ‘determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe’ and ‘save millions of lives’.

And Zelensky’s continued reservations about the transfer of regions in eastern Ukraine to Russia, he warned, would embolden Vladimir Putin.

He said: ‘We want the end of the war, not the end of Ukraine. Will Russia be able to end the war? Yes. Does he want to? No. Can the world force it to do this? Yes, and that’s the only way it will work.

‘Signing weak agreements only fuels war. ‘Either the world stops Russia’s war, or Russia drags the world into its own war.’

Ukraine is expected to continue negotiations with US and European officials tomorrow, while the UK-led Coalition of Volunteers is expected to meet on Sunday.

Mr. Zelensky is trying to get stronger security guarantees from the United States as part of a negotiated peace deal. This came after Western intelligence sources rejected Kremlin claims that Ukraine had carried out a drone attack on Putin’s Black Sea hideout.

The CIA and other agencies are understood to have concluded that the attacks Putin described to Donald Trump did not occur.

Russian President Vladimir Putin after his meeting with the US President about the war in Ukraine on August 15, 2025

After the allegations were rejected, the Kremlin released a ‘map’ of the unmanned aerial vehicles that arrived yesterday.

It is claimed that Russian officials planned the route that the devices would take towards the Novgorod region.

Mr. Trump initially expressed sympathy for Putin, but within hours questions were raised about Russia’s calculation.

Ukraine denied the attack and claimed Russia was ‘lying’ to undermine peace efforts.

The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, described Russia’s claim as a “deliberate distraction”.

The Kremlin also released a video featuring a senior military officer, Major General Alexander Romanenkov, explaining how Ukraine carried out the attack. He said they launched Chaklun-V unmanned aerial vehicles containing 13 lb of explosives.

In a post on Telegram, a Russian military spokesman said: ‘Decryption of routing data revealed that the ultimate target of Ukrainian drones was the Russian presidential residence in Novgorod. This will be transferred to the American side through established channels.’