Uncertainty surrounds possible peace talks over Ukraine in the new year as rival sides do battle in THE UN and President Volodomyr Zelenskyy has concerns over ongoing military and political support for his country. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin insists he has 300,000 more troops signed up to fight for the Russian side in the conflict, as CGTN’s Iolo ap Dafydd reports.
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00:00Pokrovsk in east Ukraine is a ghost town.
00:05Most of the 60,000 residents have left
00:08as Russia attacks. Some stay
00:11despite the danger.
00:15No gas, no heating. When we had gas we could warm up water bottles.
00:19Now there's nothing. The fighting is getting closer.
00:22Pokrovsk could follow the fate of Bakhmut and Mariupol.
00:27Russia isn't planning to end its attacks as President Putin says he has
00:31hundreds of thousands registered to fight.
00:33Last year over 300,000 of our citizens came to the military registration and
00:39enlistment offices
00:40and signed contracts to serve in the armed forces.
00:43More than 300,000. This year
00:47at the moment there are already over 430,000
00:51and this flow of volunteers is actually not stopping.
00:54Ukraine's leader is concerned how military and political support for his
00:58country
00:59could change soon. In the past year President Zelensky has modified his
01:03stance
01:04from refusing a ceasefire to suggesting he would cede territory for peace
01:09provided Ukraine is given NATO membership. When he's back in office the
01:14United States President-elect
01:16Donald Trump has promised to end the war within 24 hours
01:20and expects a deal to be made.
01:23President Zelensky, if anything, be prepared to give up, to ask.
01:27Be prepared to make a deal. That's all. Gotta be a deal.
01:31Too many people being killed.
01:34That is a war. Too many people. Gotta make a deal.
01:38And Putin has to make a deal.
01:42And Putin would have never gotten in if I was President. While the world waits for more
01:47details
01:48as to what specifically is Trump's plan for Ukraine
01:51both sides battle each other diplomatically in the United Nations.
01:55The Ukrainian leadership is past its sell-by date
01:59and doesn't want to resolve the situation. In fact it's rejected Hungary's
02:02proposal to introduce a Christmas ceasefire
02:05and an exchange of prisoners. Ukraine has a shortage of soldiers,
02:09weapons and worries that 60 percent of its energy infrastructure
02:13has been severely damaged. Speaking in mid-December
02:17Ukraine's permanent representative to the United Nations highlighted the scale
02:21of recent attacks.
02:22Friday's strike was the twelfth carried out by Russia against
02:27our energy infrastructure in 2024 alone.
02:30For these strikes Russia used about
02:331100 missiles, both cruise and ballistic ones.
02:36Meanwhile civilians in Ukraine still suffer weekly missile attacks
02:41and soldiers on both sides die in battle or are killed by bombs.
02:46Yoloahtaveth, CGTN.