Zelensky sets out Ukraine peace plan
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 24 December 2025
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
President Zelensky has revealed a draft deal to end the war in Ukraine that has been negotiated with the US and is currently being reviewed by Moscow. The 20-point plan includes security guarantees for Kyiv from the US, NATO and Europe, but Mr Zelensky says the question of territory remains unresolved.
Also in the programme: the US denies visas to five Europeans accused of leading efforts to stifle Americans online; and Egypt begins restoring a 4,500-year-old boat that once belonged to King Khufu.
(Picture: Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky. Credit: SERGEY DOLZHENKO/EPA/Shutterstock)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.2 | Hello and welcome to Newsare. It's coming to you live from the BBC World Service |
| 0:14.2 | Studios in London. I'm Tim Franks. And we're back in Ukraine to start the programme, not as yesterday because of a massive drone and missile attack from Russia, but because of a striking act of diplomatic showmanship from the Ukrainian president. |
| 0:30.1 | Vladimir Zelensky has revealed what he says are the point-by-point details of the deal to end the war, the deal at least that's been negotiated by his team |
| 0:39.2 | with the United States and which has now been sent to Moscow. There are 20 points covering, |
| 0:44.7 | among other things, security guarantees, European Union membership, fresh elections and |
| 0:49.4 | absolutely key this, potential territorial concessions. That would be in the eastern region of |
| 0:57.5 | Ukraine, the areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, which Russia has part occupied and continues to grind |
| 1:03.7 | extraordinarily bloody and slowly across. In a statement released by President Zelensky's office, he's quoted as saying |
| 1:13.0 | that Ukraine is willing to consider a demilitarized zone in this region. We voiced up some of the |
| 1:20.0 | statement. We are in a situation where the Russians want us to withdraw from the Densk region, |
| 1:26.0 | while the Americans are trying to find a way for this to be |
| 1:29.0 | not a withdrawal, because we are against a withdrawal. They are looking for a demilitarized |
| 1:34.3 | zone or a free economic zone, meaning a format that could satisfy both sides. We consider a free |
| 1:40.9 | economic zone a potential option for a sovereign state to choose such a path. |
| 1:45.8 | Well, as you could probably infer from that extract, the language is a bit tortuous and hints |
| 1:50.5 | at the painfulness of such a concession. In a moment, we'll get reaction from a Ukrainian |
| 1:56.2 | member of Parliament. First, though, Benjamin Godwin is a partner at Prism Strategic Intelligence |
| 2:01.3 | and is a specialist on Ukraine. What does he read into this publication of the 20-point plan? |
| 2:07.2 | I think there's definite sign of progress that we see within the document. It's obviously been |
| 2:12.1 | refined from 28 to 20 points, which suggests, obviously, there's been a lot of work done to it. |
| 2:18.2 | Some points seem agreed, such as the size of the Ukrainian army going forward. |
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