The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyhas started “meetings in Europe” in order to materialize the peace plan presented by the United States to put an end to the Russian invasion and has demanded progress in the development of “security guarantees” for “long-term resilience” in the European country.
Zelensky, who began the day with a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, has subsequently confirmed a “very productive discussion on key priorities with European friends”.
Before appearing together after their meeting, Zelensky published a message on his social networks in which he stressed that “peace must be truly lasting.”
Just as he explained in another tweet that during the meeting with Macron, in which the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, also participated, they had had a conversation with both the United States peace envoy, Steve Witkoffas with the Ukrainian secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov and that with both of them it had been “agreed to discuss more details in person.”
During our several-hour talks, @EmmanuelMacron and I assessed a great many details. The main focus was on negotiations to end the war and on security guarantees. Peace must become truly durable. The war must end as soon as possible. Much now depends on the involvement of every… pic.twitter.com/F2wh2C5dq7
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Volodymyr Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) December 1, 2025
According to Elysée sources, after lunch, Zelensky and Macron met successively for video conference with Starmerand the leaders of seven countries of the European Union (Germany, Poland, Italy, Norway, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands).
The round of interviews from Paris continued with the president of the European CouncilAntonio Costa; the president of the European CommissionUrsula von der Leyen, and the NATO Secretary GeneralMark Rutte, specified the sources of the French Presidency.
Von der Leyen stressed that it was “a good discussion.” “We remain united for a peace agreement that does justice to Ukraine,” he said in X, where he insisted that this pact should “preserve the sovereignty of Ukraine and contemplate the necessary security guarantees.”
“The territorial question”
The Ukrainian president acknowledged this Monday in the joint press conference with Emmanuel Macron that the issue of the distribution between Ukraine and Russia of the disputed territories is being the most complicated to resolve in the negotiations that emissaries from kyiv have held with US representatives to outline a peace plan that will later be negotiated with Russia.
“The territorial question is the most difficult”Zelensky said. He explained that his emissaries and those of Donald Trump spent six and a half hours talking about the territorial issue.
This is not surprising, since the initial plan proposed by the US included the Russian demand that Ukraine cede to Russia the part it still controls of its Donbas region, something that kyiv considers unacceptable.
That’s why, Macron He recalled that although “the US has assumed the role of mediator”, the peace conditions cannot be negotiated “without the Ukrainians and without the Europeans”, and warned that “Only Ukraine can discuss its territoriesbecause they are yours.”
The other two key issues receiving priority attention in the negotiations are the modalities in which will finance the reconstruction of Ukraine and the security guarantees that its allies can offer kyiv after the war, Zelensky explained.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron met this Monday at the Elysee Palace.
Reuters
The Ukrainian president insisted that the European agreement is crucial on the issue of reconstruction, after Trump’s original plan —revised by the Ukrainians in the negotiations more than a week ago in Geneva— proposed investing frozen Russian assets in the West for this purpose and for the US to take half of the profits.
Zelensky said that he does not consider it “fair” for the Europeans and explained that an appropriate solution must be found.
“Thanks to our team of negotiators the plan is now better“Zelensky said of the document that Americans and Ukrainians worked on this weekend and that will be presented tomorrow to Russian President Vladimir Putin by Trump’s emissary Steve Witkoff.
For its part, Macronassured that the European Union works in strengthen sanctions against Russia and that “in the coming weeks the pressure on Russia will increase so that it has fewer funds to finance the war.”
Special correspondent
Zelensky’s meeting with his French counterpart, the second in two weeks, comes on the same day that US special envoy, Steve Witkoff heads to Moscow to interview —predictably this Tuesday— with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The visit to Moscow by the special envoy, a close friend of Trump, will take place after a delegation of Ukrainian officials held a meeting this Sunday with the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, in Florida, which Witkoff attended.
The meeting, which lasted more than four hours, was “productive”according to Rubio told the press, although he acknowledged that there is still “a lot of work to do” in the search for a peace agreement.