US-Dialogue Continues: Latest Updates

Table of Contents

• Kremlin: agreement with USA to continue dialogue
• Elysée: no contact between Macron and Putin, no talks planned at the moment
• Axios: Trump will meet Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday
• Zelensky: I will meet Donald Trump soon
• Russian media: for Putin, Zaporizhzhia issue still open with USA
• Ukrainian media: drones hunting civilians in Kramatorsk, one dead
• Moscow: 77 Ukrainian drones intercepted and destroyed during the night

Moscow and Washington have agreed to continue dialogue on the conflict in Ukraine, following the round of diplomatic talks held in Miami. This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, as reported by the Interfax agency. The Kremlin – explained Peskov – analyzed the information provided by Kirill Dmitriev, special representative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, at the end of the talks on the conflict in Ukraine which were held in Miami, and contacts with the US administration have already been initiated on Putin’s behalf.

There have been no recent contacts between Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin, and no talks between the two are currently planned. The Elysée announced it today. Paris and Moscow had recently expressed their interest in direct contact at the summit. “There have been no exchanges” between the French and Russian presidents, “there are currently no phone calls” between the two and “Emmanuel Macron is not expected to travel to Moscow,” the Elysée said. Last week, the Kremlin indicated that Vladimir Putin was ready to talk to Emmanuel Macron, responding to the French president’s statements to that effect. The Elysée deemed this initiative “welcome” and stated that its staff would decide “in the next few days the best way to proceed”, underlining that this must happen “in total transparency” with Kiev and its European partners.

US President Donald Trump will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday at Mar-a-Lago. Axios journalist Barak Ravid writes this in X, quoting a senior Ukrainian official and underlining that the meeting indicates “significant progress in negotiations on Trump’s peace plan”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this morning that he would meet US leader Donald Trump soon as part of efforts to end the war. «We have agreed to a high-level meeting with President Trump in the near future. Much can be decided before the new year,” Zelensky said on social media.

At a meeting with representatives of the business world, Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned the situation regarding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

This was reported by the Russian newspaper Kommersant, also reported by the Ukrainian media. According to Putin, joint management of the plant, without the participation of Ukraine, is being discussed with the United States. The president also made it clear that the American side is interested in establishing mining activities at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. At the same time, at the initiative of the United States, the parties are considering the supply of electricity to Ukraine. Separately, Putin noted that Ukrainian specialists continue to work at the plant, but now hold Russian passports. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. The plant is located near Energodar, on the left bank of the Dnieper River. Russia took control of the plant in March 2022, Kommersant points out, and the plant was transferred to the management of Rosenergoatom Jsc (part of Rosatom).

The community of Kostiantynivka, a city in eastern Ukraine in the Kramatorsk district of Donetsk, continues to suffer deliberate attacks from Russian forces, who use drones to hunt civilians and launch attacks even during evacuation missions. This is what the head of the city’s Military Administration Serhii Horbunov wrote on Facebook, reported by Rbc-Ukraine. According to the Military Administration of the city of Kostiantynivka, one person was killed in a drone strike, while two others suffered injuries of varying severity. The injured were quickly transported to a hospital in Druzhkivka, where they are receiving medical treatment. At the time of the attack, they were participating in an evacuation mission, helping to save their neighbors. Russian fire also reportedly hit a civilian car belonging to the volunteer group ‘Kramatorsk Volunteer Association’, which evacuated residents daily from high-risk areas. No damage to residential buildings was reported. The Kostiantynivka Military Administration warns that there are no longer safe places in the community, as Russian forces are deliberately targeting civilian vehicles and pedestrians. Authorities stress that evacuation to safer regions remains the most effective way to protect human lives.

Russian air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 77 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions last night. This was reported by the Russian Ministry of Defense, reported by the Tass agency. «Last night, 77 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones were intercepted and destroyed by air defense units in service: 34 on the territory of the Volgograd region, 23 over the Rostov region, five over the Kaluga region, five over the Republic of Crimea, three over the Moscow region, including one flying towards Moscow, three over the waters of the Black Sea, two over the Belgorod region, one over the Voronezh region and one over the waters of the Sea of Azov», reads in the press release.