We want an end to the war but not the end of Ukraine
As a new year began, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy offered his nation a measured hope: a peace framework ninety percent formed, with the remaining ten percent carrying the full weight of sovereignty and survival. The geometry of the impasse is ancient — one side offering terms that would end a nation in the act of saving it, the other refusing to mistake exhaustion for surrender. Around this fragile negotiation, the war continued its indifferent work, and the world's information landscape proved once again to be its own contested terrain.
- Zelenskyy warned that Russia's demand for full Donbas control is not a peace offer but a trap — and that signing such a deal would only guarantee a future war.
- Russian drone strikes hit Odesa apartment buildings and power infrastructure, injuring six people including children, even as both sides publicly gestured toward negotiation.
- Russia's claim that Ukraine tried to assassinate Putin unraveled quickly — US intelligence agencies, European officials, and the NSC all concluded the attack never happened, and Trump quietly reversed his initial public posture.
- North Korea's battlefield losses mounted sharply, with at least 600 troops killed and thousands wounded fighting in Ukraine — soldiers reportedly ordered to die rather than be captured.
- European leaders scheduled a January 6th Paris summit to forge post-war security guarantees for Ukraine, signaling that allied commitment is being structured before any deal is signed.
- The war entered its 1,408th day with no resolution in sight — the ten percent gap between a framework and a just peace remaining, for now, unbridgeable.
On New Year's Eve, Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed his nation with a fraction of hope wrapped in hard realism. A peace agreement, he said, was ninety percent complete — but the remaining ten percent was everything that mattered. Russia's price for peace was full control of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, a demand Zelenskyy rejected as deception dressed as diplomacy. "That is how deception sounds when translated from Russian," he said, "into Ukrainian, into English, into German, into French, and into any language in the world." Ukraine wanted peace, he insisted, but not at the cost of Ukraine itself.
The machinery of war did not pause for the address. Ukrainian long-range drones struck an oil depot in the Russian city of Rybinsk, igniting a large fire. In Odesa, Russian drones hit apartment buildings and power infrastructure, injuring six people including children. The cycle of strike and counterstrike continued without interruption.
The week's most revealing episode unfolded not on the battlefield but in the information war. Russia claimed Ukraine had attempted to assassinate Putin at his residence using drones. Donald Trump initially appeared to credit the allegation — then shifted after being briefed by CIA Director John Ratcliffe. The intelligence community had reached a clear conclusion: the attack did not happen. Russia responded by releasing video of drone fragments it claimed were evidence, but Ukrainian officials dismissed the display as theater, noting the two-day delay in producing it and the suspicious uniformity of Russian officials' statements in the hours after the alleged incident. Residents near Putin's Novgorod residence reported hearing no air defense activity that night.
Elsewhere, the human toll deepened. North Korea, which had deployed thousands of troops to fight alongside Russian forces, acknowledged their presence in what state media called an "alien land." South Korean and Western intelligence estimated at least 600 North Korean soldiers had been killed, with thousands more wounded — troops reportedly ordered to take their own lives rather than be captured.
As January began, European leaders prepared to meet in Paris on January 6th to establish security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of a peace settlement. The war, now in its 1,408th day, remained unresolved — Zelenskyy's ten percent gap still a chasm between a framework and a just peace.
On the eve of a new year, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stood before his nation and offered a fraction of hope wrapped in hard realism. A peace agreement with Russia, he said, was ninety percent complete. The remaining ten percent, he warned, was everything that mattered.
The Ukrainian president's New Year's Eve address laid bare the geometry of the stalled negotiations. Russia, under Vladimir Putin, was demanding full control of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region as the price of peace. Zelenskyy rejected this as a trap disguised as a settlement. "Pull out from the Donbas, and it will all be over," he said, translating what he saw as Russian deception into plain language. "That is how deception sounds when translated from Russian – into Ukrainian, into English, into German, into French, and, in fact, into any language in the world." He would not sign what he called a weak agreement, one that would merely pause the fighting rather than end it. Ukraine wanted peace, he insisted, but not at the cost of Ukraine itself. The country was exhausted, he acknowledged, but surrender was not on the table.
Meanwhile, the machinery of war continued its grinding work. Ukrainian long-range drones struck the Temp oil depot in the Russian city of Rybinsk, igniting a large fire that lit the winter sky. In Odesa, Russian drone attacks hit apartment buildings and power infrastructure, injuring six people, including children. Four residential buildings were damaged; two energy facilities sustained significant harm. The cycle of strike and counterstrike showed no signs of slowing.
But the week's most revealing moment came not on the battlefield but in the realm of information warfare. Russia claimed that Ukraine had attempted to assassinate Putin at his residence, targeting his house with drones. The allegation rippled outward. Donald Trump, the American president, initially appeared to lend credence to the Russian version. Then, on Wednesday, Trump shifted. He reposted a New York Post editorial accusing Russia of blocking peace negotiations. According to sources familiar with the matter, Trump had been briefed by CIA Director John Ratcliffe on the drone allegations. The intelligence community—the CIA, the National Security Council, and European officials—had reached a clear conclusion: the attack did not happen.
Russia's response to this skepticism was to produce evidence. The defense ministry released video showing a Russian serviceman standing beside fragments of what officials claimed was a downed Ukrainian Chaklun-V drone carrying a six-kilogram explosive device that had failed to detonate. Heorhii Tykhyi, a spokesperson for Ukraine's foreign ministry, dismissed the display as theater. "This is laughable," he said, pointing to the two-day delay in producing the evidence and the amateurish quality of the fabrication itself. A Ukrainian briefing paper noted that in the hours following the alleged attack, various Russian officials had made strikingly similar statements, suggesting coordination rather than spontaneous reporting. Residents living near Putin's residence in Novgorod heard no sounds of air defense systems activating on the night in question.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union's chief diplomat, called the Russian claims "a deliberate distraction." She reminded the world that Russia had been indiscriminately targeting Ukrainian infrastructure and civilians since the invasion began. The accusation, she suggested, was not evidence of Ukrainian aggression but a symptom of Russian desperation.
Across the broader theater of conflict, the human toll continued to accumulate. North Korea, which had sent thousands of troops to fight alongside Russian forces, issued a New Year message to its soldiers deployed in what state media called an "alien land." South Korean and Western intelligence agencies reported that at least six hundred North Korean troops had been killed, with thousands more wounded. These soldiers had been instructed to take their own lives rather than be captured.
In Serbia, the United States granted a reprieve to NIS, a majority Russian-owned oil company, delaying sanctions until January 23rd. The company had been forced to shut down Serbia's sole refinery in early December—a facility that supplied roughly eighty percent of the country's fuel. The reprieve offered a narrow window for negotiations over the company's sale, a transaction that had stalled for weeks.
As January began, the contours of the conflict had not fundamentally shifted. Zelenskyy's ten percent remained a chasm. European leaders were preparing to meet in Paris on January 6th to establish security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of a peace settlement—a commitment that acknowledged both the possibility of negotiation and the necessity of protection. The war, now in its 1,408th day, showed no signs of ending on terms that either side had yet accepted.
Citações Notáveis
The peace agreement is 90% ready, 10% remains. And that is far more than just numbers.— Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian president
What does Ukraine want? Peace? Yes. At any cost? No. We want an end to the war but not the end of Ukraine.— Volodymyr Zelenskyy
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
When Zelenskyy says the deal is ninety percent done, what does he actually mean? Is that a real measurement or political language?
It's political language doing real work. He's saying the framework exists—the structure of what a deal could look like. But that remaining ten percent is the substance: what happens to the Donbas, what security guarantees matter, whether Russia actually stops. It's the difference between a ceasefire and a peace.
Why did Trump shift his position on the drone attack so quickly?
Because his own intelligence agencies told him the claim was false. That's the story—not that Trump believed Russia initially, but that when briefed by his CIA director, he accepted the facts and moved on. It suggests the intelligence community still has his ear on concrete matters.
Russia produced video evidence of the drone. Doesn't that prove something happened?
It proves Russia wanted to create the appearance of proof. The timing—two days later—and the quality of what they showed actually undermined their credibility. If you're defending yourself against an assassination attempt, you don't wait. You don't produce fragments that look hastily assembled.
What's the significance of the North Korean troops?
It's a measure of how isolated Russia has become. It can't sustain this war with its own forces, so it's importing soldiers from one of the world's most repressive states. Six hundred dead already, thousands wounded, and they're still coming. That's desperation.
Is Zelenskyy actually close to a deal, or is he managing expectations?
Both. The framework is there, but the gap between what Ukraine will accept and what Russia is demanding is still enormous. He's being honest about the exhaustion while refusing to surrender. That's the real message—we're tired, but we're not breaking.