KYIV-- After months of uncertain progress in the peace process, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv will this week focus on European allies in two meetings with hopes of "hastening the end" of Russia's war on his country.
Ahead of the meetings, a Russian air strike on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and the surrounding region killed at least two people and injured several others, officials said early on January 5.
Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported that the strike caused a fire in a private medical clinic in the Obolon district of Kyiv, where there was an operating ward. After the fire was extinguished, a body was found inside the building, the emergency service added.
"It was a terrible night for us," Margaryta Maliovana, the clinic's CEO, told AFP.
"One person died. A young man, 30-year-old, was killed," she said, adding that there were 26 patients in the clinic at the moment of the strike.
"Doctors and nurses were forced to evacuate the wounded under fire," Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko wrote on X.
According to Ukraine's Air Force, Russia launched overnight attacks with nine missiles, including ballistic, and 165 strike drones.
Ukraine will later on January 5 host a meeting of the chiefs of general staffs of European countries, including those of Kyiv’s key backers, Britain, France, and Germany.
On January 6, French President Emmanuel Macron will host a Paris gathering of European leaders in an even more-crucial session -- one in which the French leader has promised that Kyiv’s backers will make "concrete" commitments to Ukraine's security.
Ahead of the talks, Zelenskyy vowed that his country is ready for all possibilities.
“There will be meetings in Europe that must become yet another contribution to our defense and to hastening the end of the war,” he said on January 4 in his nightly video address.
“Ukraine will be prepared for both possible paths ahead -- diplomacy, which we are pursuing, or continued active defense if the pressure from our partners on Russia proves insufficient.”
“Ukraine seeks peace. But Ukraine will not give up its strength to anyone,” he added.
A day earlier, Zelenskyy insisted that if a diplomatic end to the war cannot be struck during peace negotiations, his country would continue to defend itself against Russia's full-scale invasion.
"If Russia blocks all of this -- and as I said, it depends on our partners -- if our partners do not compel Russia to stop the war, there will be another path: to defend ourselves," he said on January 3.
Trump in November 2025 pressed Zelenskyy to accept a 28-point peace proposal that many saw as heavily favoring Russia.
Ukraine and its European allies -- led by Britain, France, and Germany -- scrambled to develop a counterproposal, eventually putting forward a 20-point plan that took in more of Kyiv's interests, especially on security guarantees and territorial integrity.
In his meetings with the Europeans, Zelenskyy is likely to press the need for security guarantees -- from Europe but also in conjunction with desired solid assurances from the United States as well.
Macron has spoken of the so-called Coalition of the Willing -- an informal grouping of more than 20 Western countries that have expressed support for Ukraine -- and suggested specific proposals could be presented at the Paris gathering.
Trump Rejects Kremlin Claim
Zelenskyy has expressed skepticism over Russian President Vladimir Putin's real interest in coming to peace terms.
On December 29, Russia claimed Ukraine had targeted one of Putin's residences and said Moscow would retaliate and review its stance in the negotiations.
Kyiv vehemently denied it targeted Putin or any of his residences, accusing the Kremlin of using it as a pretext to attack civilian areas.
Trump initially indicated he might have accepted the Russian claims. But after the CIA concluded the attack never happened, he appeared to side with Kyiv and reiterated that stance on January 4.
"I don't believe that strike happened," Trump told reporters. "There is something that happened fairly nearby but had nothing to do with this."
On January 4, Zelenskyy said Russia launched more than 2,000 air strikes on Ukraine during the past week and repeated his call for additional help from the West.
"Stability and predictability of aid to Ukraine are what can really move Moscow toward diplomacy. We are counting on further defense aid," Zelensky wrote on social media.
He added that over the period, Russia launched more than 1,070 glide bombs, almost 1,000 drones, and six missiles against Ukraine.
"Each missile for air defense systems that is now somewhere in storage with partners can really protect lives," he said.
Along with nightly Russian drone and missile strikes, Ukraine is battling to hold ground against the Russian invaders in the east of the country.
On January 4, Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces had gained control over the town of Podoly in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region.
The ministry also said Russian air defense units had destroyed 57 drones over the Moscow region on January 4 alone -- out of 437 shot down over the country during the day.
The claims could not independently be verified.
Ukrainian authorities, meanwhile, said the death toll from a Russian strike on a residential area in Kharkiv on January 2 had risen to six, including a 3-year-old boy, with at least 30 others injured.
