European leaders discuss Ukraine peace efforts amid Russia’s 'toughened' stance

European leaders held talks on Ukraine after Russia said it would revise its negotiating position, citing an alleged Ukrainian drone attack that Kyiv has firmly denied.

European leaders held a call on Tuesday, 30 December, to discuss the war in Ukraine after Russia said it would toughen its negotiating stance, claiming Ukrainian drones had targeted a residence used by President Vladimir Putin.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said efforts to secure strong security guarantees for Ukraine would continue, adding that Kyiv’s allies in the so-called Coalition of the Willing would meet next week.

“Our work to ensure robust security guarantees continues unabated,” Schoof said in a post on X.

The call was joined by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Russia would “toughen” its negotiating stance following what Moscow described as an attack on a presidential residence in the Novgorod region, more than 400 kilometres north-west of Moscow. He did not specify how Russia’s position would change.

Ukraine has rejected the allegation. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the claim as a fabrication and said it was Russia’s response to what he called positive developments in peace efforts.

“Almost a day passed and Russia still hasn’t provided any plausible evidence,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said, adding that no such attack had taken place.

Several countries, including India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan, issued statements expressing concern or condemning the alleged incident. Zelenskiy criticised India and the UAE, saying they had failed to condemn Russia’s repeated strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine.

The European leaders’ discussion came amid intensified diplomatic activity as US President Donald Trump pushes to end the war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Zelenskiy met Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Sunday. While no breakthrough was announced, Trump said there had been “a lot of progress”. Trump and Putin have also held calls, including one in which Putin informed the US president of Russia’s decision to revise its negotiating position.

After the European leaders’ call, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that “peace has appeared on the horizon for the first time since the start of this full-scale war”. He praised what he described as US readiness to participate in security guarantees for Ukraine, potentially including the presence of American troops.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine was discussing the issue of foreign troop deployments with the US and coalition partners but stressed that any such decisions would be made by those countries themselves. Standing alongside Trump on Sunday, Zelenskiy said the two leaders had “100% agreed” on US-Ukraine security guarantees, without providing details.

The Kremlin’s remarks underscore President Putin’s continued insistence on far-reaching demands, including territorial claims in eastern Ukraine. Putin said on Monday that Russian forces were making advances on the battlefield and ordered them to continue their operations.

Zelenskiy said national security advisers from the Coalition of the Willing are expected to meet in Ukraine on 3 January, followed by a leaders’ meeting in France on 6 January. Further talks involving Ukraine, the United States and European partners could follow later in the month.

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