On December 28, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered an unequivocal warning, asserting that if Ukraine opposed the peace process, Moscow would resort to military action for the complete realization of its still active ‘special military operation’ goals. The statement was made shortly after a major drone and missile assault on Kyiv, involving about 500 drones and 40 missiles, resulting in one death and numerous injuries, including civilians.
Vladimir Putin’s Big Warning Ahead Of Trump-Zelensky Meet On Sunday
Many people interpreted Putin’s statements as a message to both Kyiv and Washington that Russia was prepared to resort to military action if negotiations did not succeed. The report has been backed by the Russian state news agency TASS, as reported by Reuters. This alert was issued just when the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was all set to meet the US President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday, the very day the talks on ending the almost four year long conflict. The two heads of state were to center their discussions on security, and territorial control in eastern Ukraine which includes Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia that are still disputed, as well as on other issues bringing them together in the fight for peace. Ukraine has never failed to indicate its readiness for talks that would lead to a cessation of hostilities, however, it always made it clear that the respect for its borders and sovereignty was a must for any deal. The large scale assault on Kyiv was characterized by Zelensky as Russia’s answer to the peace attempts and it revealed how fragile the diplomatic situation was right before the high-profile meeting.
Russia-Ukraine War
Moscow’s unwillingness to end hostilities was evidenced by the recent strikes which Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney described as showing Moscow’s unwillingness to end hostilities. Besides Carney, he also mentioned a large scale assistance program for Ukraine aimed at rebuilding and stabilizing the country. Economically, this program would amount to billions of dollars. Observers are of the opinion that the Russian President’s words and the concurrent military operations clearly manifest the profound distrust, and the extremely divergent goals that separate Kyiv and Moscow, amidst the global leaders’ endeavor in supporting Ukraine and containing the conflict.
