European leaders convened urgent talks after the Kremlin announced plans to strengthen its negotiating position, following accusations that Ukrainian drones targeted President Vladimir Putin’s residence in Russia’s Novgorod region.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen joined the call, which focused on the situation in eastern Ukraine and security for allied nations. Schoof said work on security guarantees for Ukraine “continues unabated,” noting that the Coalition of the Willing will meet again next week.
The talks came amid heightened diplomacy, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s December 28 meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida, where Trump said “a lot of progress” had been made toward resolving the war.
Despite this, Moscow signaled no intent to end the conflict. Putin pledged to seize new Ukrainian territory, while the Foreign Ministry threatened retaliation over what Kyiv has dismissed as a fabricated drone attack. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s tougher stance followed the alleged strike but offered no evidence, and could not confirm Putin’s whereabouts during the incident.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said Russia’s claims were false and aimed at justifying its continued aggression.