LONDON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a speech Wednesday that Russia is preparing “next year as a year of war,” despite ongoing U.S.-brokered peace talks to end Moscow’s large-scale invasion of its neighbor.
Zelenskyy said Russian President Vladimir Putin sent “signals” of Moscow’s aggressive intent in comments made on Wednesday, saying the bellicose comments were intended “not only at us.”
“It is important for partners to see this,” Zelenskyy added. “And it is important that they not only see it, but also respond, in particular the partners of the United States of America, who often say that Russia supposedly wants to end the war. But from Russia comes completely different rhetoric and signals.”
Zelenskyy said that an upcoming summit in Brussels to discuss the use of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine was “important” and that the outcome of the talks “must be such that Russia feels that its desire to continue the war next year is meaningless, because Ukraine will have support. This depends one hundred percent on Europe, it is Europe that must make this decision.”
Zelenskyy arrived in Brussels on Thursday morning.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov attend an expanded meeting of the Russian Defense Ministry Board at the National Defense Control Center in Moscow, December 17, 2025.
Mikhail Tereshchenko/Sputnik via AFP via Getty Images
The European leader stressed the importance of Thursday’s meeting.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that either the European Union would accept “money [for Ukraine] today or blood tomorrow.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post for X: “We have one ultimate goal: peace for Ukraine through strength.”
Zelenskyy also said more talks between U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators are expected next week.
Zelenskyy’s comments were prompted by comments made by Putin at the annual meeting of the Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday, where the Russian leader stated that his forces had “obtained and firmly maintains the strategic initiative along the entire front line.”
Putina added that Russian troops were “confidently advancing and ‘shooting down’ the enemy, his groups and reserves, including so-called elite units and formations trained in Western military centers and equipped with modern foreign technology and weapons.”
Putin said the goals of what the Kremlin calls its “special military operation” will be achieved through diplomacy or military force.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens during a news conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, December 15, 2025.
Maryam Majd/AP
“We prefer to do this and eliminate the root causes of the conflict through diplomacy,” Putin said. “If the opposing side and its foreign backers refuse to engage in substantive talks, Russia will achieve the liberation of its historic lands by military means.”
The Russian president again attempted to blame Ukraine’s European partners for prolonging the war, which Moscow launched in February 2022. The Kremlin has continued to wage its war despite multiple rounds of diplomacy aimed at securing a ceasefire.
“We welcome the progress that has been made in the dialogue with the new American administration,” Putin said. “Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the current leadership of most European countries.”
Putin even referred to European leaders as “little pigs” in his comments on Wednesday, and also criticized the pro-Ukrainian policies of former President Joe Biden’s administration.
Meanwhile, both kyiv and Moscow continued their long-range attacks overnight on Thursday.
In this photo taken on December 16, 2025 and provided by the press service of the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate Mechanized Brigade of Ukraine, soldiers ride a quad bike near Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region.
Iryna Rybakova/AP
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 82 drones into the country in its latest strike, of which 63 were shot down or suppressed. Nineteen attack drones hit 12 locations, the air force said.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said six people were injured by a drone strike in the ️Cherkasy region, as were three people in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down at least 77 Ukrainian drones from Wednesday night to Thursday morning.
ABC News’ Oleksiy Pshemyskiy, Othon Leyva and Tom Soufi Burridge contributed to this report.
