Zelensky Declares US Security Deal for Ukraine is 'Ready to Sign' as Kremlin Updates Peace Talks

AN AMERICAN plan to guarantee Ukraine’s security is “100 per cent” ready to be signed in a major step to end Putin’s bloody war.

President is waiting for a time and a place to sign the US documents, which will then be sent for ratification to the and the Parliament

President Volodymyr Zelensky said a US document with security guarantees for Ukraine is ready to be signedCredit: EPA President Donald Trump hopes to end the war between Russia and UkraineCredit: Reuters In the hours after the summit finished, Putin unleashed a fresh wave of strikes on UkraineCredit: epa

“For us, security guarantees are first and foremost guarantees of security from the United States,” Zelensky said.

“The document is 100 per cent ready, and we are waiting for our partners to confirm the date and place when we will sign it.”

It comes as between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators with American mediators in Abu Dhabi.

And immediately after negotiations ended, killing at least one person and leaving millions without power.

Targeting central heating and electricity grids, countless civilians were left without heating amid the blistering subzero cold.

launched over 370 attack drones and 21 missiles of various types, Zelensky said.

On Friday and Saturday, representatives gathered in for peace negotiations, with American officials hinting that a summit between the two leaders could now be on the cards after discussions went “better than expected”.

The Kremlin said the talks were held in a “constructive spirit” but that there was still “significant work ahead”.

“It would be a mistake to expect any significant results from the initial contacts… But the very fact that these contacts have begun in a constructive spirit can be viewed positively. However, there is significant work ahead,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

The Russian delegation was led by Putin’s trusted GRU military intelligence chief, Admiral Igor Kostyukov.

Ukraine was represented by Zelensky’s chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov, the former head of Kyiv’s GUR military intelligence.

The US team is thought to have included Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and the former president’s son-in-law, .

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators are last known to have met face-to-face in Istanbul last summer, in talks that ended only in deals to exchange captured soldiers.

The Abu Dhabi meeting was the first time they have faced each other to talk about the Trump administration’s plan.

Putin will no back down on his desire to have Ukraine’s Donbas regionCredit: AFP Representatives of each nation gathered for talks in Abu DhabiCredit: Reuters Further talks are scheduled in Abu Dhabi on SundayCredit: Getty

An initial US draft drew heavy criticism in Kyiv and western Europe for hewing too closely to Moscow’s demands, while Russia rejected later versions for proposing European peacekeepers in Ukraine.

Behind closed doors, optimism appeared to grow.

“We are very close to a meeting between Putin and Zelensky,” one US source said.

After two days of talks, the same source described a striking shift in atmosphere, adding there was a “moment that everybody looked almost as they were friends. I had a sense of hope”.

Despite the positive tone, deep divisions remain – particularly over territory in eastern Ukraine.

Trucks burn after an attack on the Ukrainian capital, January 24Credit: AFP Trump meeting with Zelensky during the World Economic Forum in DavosCredit: Shutterstock Editorial

Both sides continue to refuse to budge on the Donbas region.

Zelensky has repeatedly said he will not surrender, warning it could become a launchpad for future Russian assaults.

Donbas is Ukraine’s industrial heartland and is rich in strategic minerals including lithium, uranium, titanium and rare earths.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin has been clear that he wants the entire region, which Ukraine still partially controls and has defended at great military loss since the start of the full-scale invasion.

A US-backed proposal would see the region turned into a demilitarised free economic zone in exchange for security guarantees for Ukraine, but Moscow is widely expected to reject the idea.

Further talks are scheduled for Sunday again in Abu Dhabi.

as a concession to come to an agreement to end the almost four-year war.

In return for Kyiv giving up its Nato bid, President Zelensky said he was looking to Washington to provide “security guarantees” to protect his country from further military attacks from Putin.

He said he was seeking “legally binding” security assurances from allies should Ukraine not be able to rely on being part of Nato.

“These security guarantees are an opportunity to prevent another wave of Russian aggression, and this is already a compromise on our part,” he said.

Meanwhile, over a million people in Kyiv and Chernigiv were left without electricity in sub-zero temperatures due to the latest Russian strikes.

About half of Kyiv’s apartment blocks were cut off from heating, Ukrainian authorities said.

“This night in Kyiv, it’s really all happening again and again,” Iryna Berehova, 48, told AFP, adding: “These explosions, these sleepless nights, these worries for our children, for our safety, they are very exhausting.”

“These negotiations that are taking place don’t even give us any hope for the better.”

The European Union, which has sent hundreds of power generators to Ukraine, has accused Moscow of “deliberately depriving civilians of heat”.

Zelensky last week declared a state of emergency in the energy sector, which has been battered by relentless Russian strikes on heat and electricity supplies.

The Moscow-installed governor in the occupied Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said a Ukrainian drone strike killed three people in an ambulance van heading to a sick man.