Zelenskiy says he won't sign peace plan

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in his New Year address to the nation, said late on Wednesday that Ukraine wanted the war to end, but not at any cost, adding he would not sign a "weak" peace agreement that would only prolong the war.



Seated in his ⁠office, with a festive tree in the background, Zelenskiy said Ukrainians were exhausted from nearly four ‌years of war -- longer than ⁠the German World War Two occupation of many Ukrainian cities. But they were not prepared to give up.



Zelenskiy said weeks of U.S.-led diplomacy, including his talks last weekend with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida, had produced a peace deal that was nearly ready.



"A peace agreement is 90% ready, 10% remains," he said. "That 10% contains everything, it is the 10% that will determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe and how people will live."



The main stumbling block to completing a deal is the issue of who will control what parts of Ukraine's territory.