Kremlin agrees with Trump's remarks that Ukraine peace deal is now 'closer'

The Kremlin said on Monday (December 29) it agreed with comments by U.S. President Donald Trump, who said a peace deal on Ukraine was “a lot closer”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump spoke on Sunday ahead of Trump's meeting in Miami with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said another call was planned very soon.

Russia currently controls a fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea which it annexed in 2014, about 90% of Donbas, 75% of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and slivers of the Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, according to Russian estimates.

Russia claims Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson as part of Russia, though most countries consider the regions to be part of Ukraine.

Peskov said no call between Putin and Zelenskiy was being discussed.

-Reuters