Ukraine reports ‘concrete results’ from talks with Western allies

Chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov says progress has been made at key Paris summit.Published On 7 Jan 2026Ukrainian ‍President ‍Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s new chief of staff has reported “concrete ​results” have already been reached in ongoing talks over an end to the war and post-conflict security guarantees with Western allies.Kyrylo Budanov offered the update on Telegram on Wednesday, as talks continued in Paris at the largest-ever summit of the “coalition of the willing” – a group of 35 countries that have pledged to support Kyiv against Russian aggression.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Ukraine’s top allies meet in Paris to push for Kyiv’s security guaranteeslist 2 of 4US backs security guarantees for Ukraine, as France and UK pledge troopslist 3 of 4Macron, Starmer, Zelenskyy sign Ukraine troop deployment pactlist 4 of 4Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,413end of list“Ukrainian ​national ‌interests will be defended,” Budanov insisted, although he gave no details about the progress made.In a subsequent social media post, Zelenskyy said that the talks on Wednesday, which will again include United States envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared ⁠Kushner, would address “the most difficult issues” in the discussions to end the nearly four-year war.In light of Russia’s demands that Ukraine cede four of its eastern regions, territorial questions are the toughest for Kyiv. Within that topic is the status of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.“Ukraine does not shy away from the most difficult issues and will never be an obstacle to peace,” Zelenskyy insisted, repeating a mantra designed to ward off accusations from Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump that Ukraine is not serious about ending the conflict.“Peace must be dignified,” he added. “And this depends on the partners – on whether they ensure Russia’s real readiness to end the war.”High tensionThe updates come a day after the United States pledged to back security guarantees for Ukraine, including leading a truce monitoring mechanism, while France and the United Kingdom said they would deploy forces to Ukrainian territory if a ceasefire was agreed.