As the clock struck midnight on 2026, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a New Year’s message that was both a glimmer of hope and a stern warning. He revealed that a peace agreement to end the nearly four-year war with Russia is 90% ready, but that the final 10% contains the most dangerous and unresolved issues—territory, sovereignty, and the survival of the Ukrainian state.
“Those are the 10 percent that will determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe,” Zelensky told the nation. While U.S.-led negotiations have accelerated following a high-stakes summit between Zelensky and President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the sticking points remain massive. Russia is demanding full control of the Donbas and Zaporizhzhia regions, while Ukraine refuses to accept any “weak deal” that rewards Moscow’s aggression. Zelensky warned that Putin’s promise to stop at the Donbas is a “deception” that sounds the same in every language, and that without a 15-to-50-year security guarantee from the West, the war will never truly end.
