Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on December 8 that Kyiv had "no moral right" to give up territory to Russia, while Washington is seeking compromises.
"We have no legal right under Ukrainian law, our constitution, or international law. And we have no moral right, either," Zelenskyy said during an online briefing on December 8 when asked whether Kyiv was considering giving up territory.
"Of course, Russia insists that we give up territory. We certainly do not want to give anything up. That is what we are fighting for," he added.
Commenting on the US draft peace proposal, Zelenskyy said it was narrowed down to 20 points and the openly anti-Ukrainian points had been removed.
"There were 28 points; now there are 20. The openly anti-Ukrainian points have been removed. The Americans are, in principle, in favor of finding a compromise. Of course, there are complex issues concerning territory. No compromise has been found there yet," said Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy wrote on X after his December 8 meeting in London with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that he had "briefed them on our contacts with the United States and the work on all the proposals currently on the table."
"It is important that we work together on all documents, including the overall peace framework, security guarantees, and Ukraine's postwar recovery," he added.
"Ukraine's fate is Europe's fate," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wrote on social media. "No one should have any doubt: Our support will not falter."
During his next stop in Brussels, Zelenskyy met with NATO chief Mark Rutte, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and European Council President Antonio Costa.
"We discussed in detail our work with US partners on steps toward peace, security guarantees, and strengthening our resilience. We also touched on the PURL initiative and the reparations loan," Zelenskyy said in a post following the meeting in Brussels.
The Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) is a NATO initiative under which European and other nations pay for US-sourced weapons to be supplied to Ukraine. Separately, European countries are debating a proposal to use tens of billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets for a reparations loan to Ukraine.
"As peace talks are ongoing, the EU remains ironclad in its support for Ukraine. Our financing proposals are on the table," von der Leyen stated after the meeting with the Ukrainian president.
"The goal is a strong Ukraine, on the battlefield and at the negotiating table," she wrote on X.
"Ukraine's sovereignty must be respected. Ukraine's security must be guaranteed, in the long term, as a first line of defense for our Union," she said. "Europe will keep contributing to all efforts for a just and lasting peace for Ukraine."
Meanwhile, Russian drones attacked the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy late on December 8, marking the second major attack there in 24 hours and causing a widespread power outage, the regional governor said.
"In the space of half an hour, the Russians launched more than 10 drone strikes on the city," Governor Oleh Hryhorov wrote on Telegram.
"There is no electricity in Sumy. Some critical infrastructure is operating on reserve power sources."
