Zelenskyy reaffirms his refusal to cede land to Russia as he rallies European support

ROME — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reaffirmed his strong refusal to cede any territory, resisting U.S. pressure for painful concessions to Russia as he moved ahead Tuesday to rally more European support for his country.

“Undoubtedly, Russia insists for us to give up territories. We, clearly, don’t want to give up anything. That’s what we are fighting for,” Zelenskyy told reporters in a WhatsApp chat late Monday.

“Do we consider ceding any territories? According to the law we don’t have such right,” he said. “According to Ukraine’s law, our constitution, international law, and to be frank, we don’t have a moral right either.”

In an interview with Politico released Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump pressed Zelenskyy to accept the U.S. proposal that Ukraine cede territory to Russia, arguing Moscow has the “upper hand” in its nearly 4-year-old invasion, and that Zelenskyy’s government must “play ball.”

Zelenskyy met in Rome with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, discussing the progress of the peace process, her office said. They emphasized the importance of U.S. and European unity and of solutions “that will have repercussions on the continent’s security,” the statement said.

They also discussed “developing robust security guarantees to prevent future aggression and maintaining pressure on Russia to join the negotiating table in good faith,” it said.

Earlier, Zelenskyy met with Pope Leo XIV at Castel Gandolfo, a papal residence outside Rome. The Vatican said Leo reiterated the need for continuing dialogue and “expressed his urgent desire that the current diplomatic initiatives bring about a just and lasting peace.”

The Holy See has tried to stay neutral in the war while offering solidarity and assistance to what it calls the “martyred” people of Ukraine. Leo has met three times with Zelenskyy and has spoken by telephone at least once with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling for a ceasefire and urging Moscow to make gestures promoting peace.

On Monday, Zelenskyy held talks in London with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to strengthen Ukraine’s hand amid mounting impatience from Trump.

Facing U.S. pressure

U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators completed three days of talks Saturday aimed at trying to narrow differences on the Trump administration’s peace proposal.

A major sticking point is the suggestion that Kyiv must give up control of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine to Russia, which illegally occupies most but not all of the territory. Ukraine and its European allies firmly resist the idea of handing over land.

“You know, a lot of people are dying,” Trump told Politico on Monday, claiming that other Ukrainian officials that he identified only as Zelenskyy’s “lieutenants, his top people” agree with the U.S. administration.

Other than Zelenskyy’s comments Monday, Ukrainian negotiators have said very little in public about the content of the U.S. proposal or their attitude toward it.

Russia, Trump said, is too powerful for Ukraine to continue fighting.

“I give the people of Ukraine and the military of Ukraine tremendous credit for the, you know, bravery and for the fighting and all of that,” he said. “But you know, at some point, size will win, generally.”

Trump also repeated his call for Ukraine to hold a presidential election even though martial law doesn’t allow it and Zelenskyy, elected in 2019, had his five-year term extended because of the war. Trump’s position on Ukraine’s failure to hold an election mirrors frequent statements on the subject by Putin.

Trump has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Zelenskyy since winning a second term, insisting U.S. support for Ukraine was a waste of taxpayers’ money.

Zelenskyy said Monday that Trump “certainly wants to end the war. … Surely, he has his own vision. We live here, from within we see details and nuances, we perceive everything much deeper, because this is our motherland.”

He said the current U.S. peace plan differs from earlier versions in that it now has 20 points, down from 28, after he said some “obvious anti-Ukrainian points were removed.”

Putin, speaking Tuesday with pro-Kremlin activists, reaffirmed his claim the Donbas is Russia’s “historic territory” and vowed to fulfill his war goals. “We will certainly take it to the logical conclusion,” he said.

European support

Starmer, Macron and Merz strongly backed Kyiv, with the U.K. leader saying Monday the push for peace was at a “critical stage,” and stressed the need for “a just and lasting ceasefire.”

Merz, meanwhile, said he was “skeptical” about some details in documents released by the U.S. “We have to talk about it. That’s why we are here,” he said. “The coming days … could be a decisive time for all of us.”

European leaders are working to ensure that any ceasefire is backed by solid security guarantees both from Europe and the U.S. to deter Russia from attacking again. Trump has not given explicit guarantees in public.

Zelenskyy and his European allies have repeatedly accused Putin of slow-walking the talks to press ahead with the invasion as his forces make steady gains while waves of missiles and drones pummel Ukrainian infrastructure.

Both sides exchange aerial strikes

Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 110 drones across the country overnight. While air defenses neutralized 84 drones, 24 more have struck their targets.

Several regions of Ukraine faced emergency blackouts Tuesday due to Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, according to Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo.

U.N. deputy humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya said Tuesday only 65% of the $278 million required to fund a Winter Response Plan in Ukraine has been received, forcing cuts to services like cash assistance, heating support, mental health care and protection for women and girls.

This means families are facing freezing temperatures without heating, women and girls are losing access to “safe spaces” and older people in front-line areas are left without the means to evacuate, she told the U.N. Security Council.

“Attacks harming energy systems are pushing cities toward blackout, strikes in residential areas are uprooting families midwinter, and humanitarian access constraints are depriving the most vulnerable where suffering is highest,” Msuya added.

The U.K. Defense Ministry said a member of the British military died Tuesday of his injuries from an accident while observing Ukrainian troops test a defensive system away from the front lines — the first U.K. servicemember to die in Ukraine in the war. It was not immediately clear what role he was serving or where the accident occurred.

The U.K. military has said a small of number of personnel are in Ukraine to protect British diplomats and support Ukrainian troops.

Ukraine also continued its drone attacks on Russia.

Russia said it destroyed 121 drones in various regions and in the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. In Chuvashia, a region about 900 kilometers (about 560 miles) northeast of the Ukrainian border, an attack damaged residential buildings and injured nine people, Gov. Oleg Nikolayev said.

Ukraine’s Security Service carried out a drone attack on a liquefied gas terminal at the port of Temryuk in Russia’s Krasnodar region on Dec. 5, according to an official with knowledge of the operation who spoke to The Associated Press.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said the strike sparked a fire at the facility, with more than 20 storage tanks set ablaze for over three days.