Russia has attacked Kyiv in the middle of the night as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky told he will meeting with US President Donald Trump in Florida Sunday to continue discussions on how to bring an end to four years’ bloodshed in Eastern Europe.
On Friday, Zelensky offered a note of caution that he wasn’t ready to say if the meeting would result in an agreement on anything tangible, but said that both sides would be looking to “finalize as much as we can.” The Ukrainian leader had earlier sounded an upbeat note on Friday, saying in a post on X that “a lot can be decided before the New Year.”
Zelensky said a 20-point peace plan agreed between Ukraine and US officials was “90% ready” and that he would use his talks with Trump to address how Ukraine’s western allies could guarantee its future security.
Trump said in an interview to Politico that he’s hoping the meeting will “go good,” but warned that Zelensky “doesn’t have anything” until I agree. He also said he intends to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin “soon, as I want.”
On the eve of Zelensky’s meeting with Trump to “finalize” the “peace plan,” putin launched a massive drone and missile attack targeting primarily Kyiv’s civilian and energy infrastructure.
Because he clearly wants peace. pic.twitter.com/cH7dwigmrB— Olga Klymenko (@OlgaK2013) December 27, 2025
Within 24 hours, Russa followed up with a major aerial bombardment of Kyiv that left at least eight people injured, city officials said.
Fires blazed throughout the city, consuming a car repair shop and several residential buildings, and requiring elderly residents to evacuate a care home as flames sweep through, Kyiv Emergency Service said.
“Kyiv got bombarded with cruise and ballistic missiles,” Oleksiy Sorokin, deputy chief editor of the Kyiv Independent in Ukraine, told CNN, who added that additional drone strikes from the east are anticipated with casualties still unaccounted for.
Of the peace talks that lie ahead, he said: “The problem… is there’s one side of it that wants to stop the war—and the other one that clearly does not.
“From the battles that are taking place behind me, we understand that Russia does not actually want peace.
After the attacks, Poland sent fighter jets into the sky and shut two airports for several hours, according to an announcement on X cited by Reuters.
The closure of the Rzeszow and Lublin airports in southeastern Poland was based on “unplanned military activity related to ensuring state security,” a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) said, which appeared on the website of the US Federal Aviation Administration.
Sunday’s Trump-Zelensky meeting was stalled while negotiators from the United States and Ukraine worked throughout the week to plan it, according to officials in Washington. Although officials did not say what they aimed to achieve in the meeting, Zelensky said in an interview with Axios on Friday that he would like to put in place a framework for ending the war.
No European leaders are set to attend the meeting, according to US and European officials. But European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will take part in a call Saturday with Zelensky, Trump and other European leaders, a commission spokesman said telling Reuters.
Ukrainians have been trying for months to secure a meeting between Zelensky and Trump, European officials said. The Europeans want this to be a successful meeting because of that; they say that the current US-Ukraine dynamic is working. But they also say the results of any Trump encounter are unpredictable.
“There is no low-risk scenario with Trump,” one NATO official said.
Ahead of the meeting on Sunday, Zelensky said Friday that he had already spoken to the leaders of NATO, Canada, Germany, Finland, Denmark and Estonia to coordinate their positions. “Ukraine never was and never will be a stumbling block to peace, and we are working effectively at the preparation of all documents that should be prepared as soon as possible,” he said.
Zelensky’s announcement followed his recent proposals to cede ground on some of the most difficult elements that have hampered a US-sponsored peace process with Russia. But it’s uncertain if Zelensky’s compromises go far enough to appease the Kremlin.
Asked whether Zelensky might be willing to accept territorial concessions for a peace agreement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN that “giving up the remaining part of Donetsk would mean a lot.”
The 28-point peace plan first appeared in November after discussions between the United States and Russia, and was denounced by Ukraine’s allies as highly favorable to Moscow. After weeks of discussions between Ukrainian and US officials, the draft has been reduced to the current 20-point plan, which Zelensky has described as a possible “foundational document on ending the war.”
Zelensky said Ukraine had not yet received a formal response from the Kremlin to the most recent proposal. Kyiv is talking only to Washington, and Washington is in talks with Moscow,” he said.
Short of Russia accepting the peace plan proposed by Ukraine and the United States, Zelensky said more should be done to pressure Moscow. “[I]f Ukraine says no, it’s a hard position – and Russia doesn’t agree, what else can do the (existing) pressure on that?” Zelensky said. “And I want to hear this answer (from Trump). I would like to discuss this.”
Zelensky has also signaled a willingness to make concessions on both of those fronts. In a wide-ranging press conference Tuesday that he called to promote the new peace initiative, Zelensky said Ukraine was now seeking security guarantees from its allies that would resemble NATO’s Article 5 – all members attack any who has come under attack – but was no longer interested in full membership of the military alliance.
Zelensky also indicated that Ukraine would be prepared to pull its troops out of areas of the Donbas region not currently controlled by Russian forces. The Ukrainian leader said any troop withdrawal would have to be mutual, with Moscow ceding as much Ukrainian territory as Kyiv did and those pockets of the Donbas becoming demilitarized in turn. Earlier this month, Zelensky had said US negotiators wanted the territories to be “free economic zones” after all troops left.
The border of a country may not be altered without holding a national referendum, according to the Ukrainian constitution. On Friday, Zelensky again declared that “the destiny of Ukraine should be decided by the people of Ukraine” and noted that Ukaine’s allies “have enough power to press on Russia or negotiate with the Russians” to ensure any such plebiscite could be conducted safely.
