Kiev [Ukraine], January 29: While there are reports that the US wants Ukraine to make concessions before confirming security guarantees after peace talks, the Kremlin has commented on the possibility of holding a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
Russia and Ukraine announce each other's losses.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on January 28 that, in the previous 24 hours, its military had launched attacks on Ukrainian long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) launch sites and enemy troop concentrations at 158 locations, according to TASS.
Around the same time, Russian air defenses intercepted and destroyed 175 Ukrainian UAVs.
Since the start of the special operation, Russia has claimed to have destroyed a total of 670 fighter jets, 283 helicopters, 111,406 UAVs, 646 anti-aircraft missile systems, 27,364 tanks and armored combat vehicles, 1,652 multiple rocket launcher systems, 32,903 field artillery pieces and mortars, and 53,043 specialized military vehicles belonging to Ukraine.
Ukraine has not commented on the information, but Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov provided figures on Russian losses.
Specifically, Fedorov stated that in 2025, first-person view (FPV) drones and drones carrying explosive devices had carried out nearly 820,000 successful attacks, all of which were confirmed by drone video.
In addition, in 2025, Ukrainian UAVs destroyed or severely damaged more than 29,000 heavy weapons such as Russian tanks and artillery, 62,000 light logistical and battlefield equipment targets such as motorized vehicles, and shot down more than 32,000 Russian reconnaissance or attack UAVs.
"Currently, more than 80% of the enemy's targets are being destroyed by UAVs. The majority of these are UAVs manufactured by Ukrainian companies," Fedorov emphasized. Moscow has not commented on this information. The figures on casualties and losses in the conflict provided by both sides cannot be verified.
Does the US want Ukraine to make concessions before confirming security guarantees?
According to several informed sources, the US has signaled that Washington will only offer security guarantees to Ukraine if Kyiv agrees to cede territory to Russia in the Donbass region, the Financial Times reported, citing informed sources.
While Donbass is considered a red line for Kyiv.
Also on January 28, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had identified several issues in the agreement with the US for post-war reconstruction that needed further in-depth discussion, Reuters reported.
The reconstruction agreement is part of a larger agreement aimed at ending the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
"Work with the US side is being actively pursued, and on the Ukrainian side, we are working with the utmost efficiency," Zelensky wrote on social media platform X, adding that all parties need to achieve results as soon as possible.
The Kremlin speaks about the possibility of a Putin-Zelensky meeting.
Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin's foreign policy advisor, said that any future meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his counterpart Zelensky needs to be well-prepared and geared towards concrete results.
Speaking on Russian state television, Ushakov emphasized that Moscow has never ruled out the possibility of holding a meeting with the Ukrainian leader. If President Zelensky is willing, he could travel to Moscow to meet with Putin, and the Russian side would guarantee his personal safety.
This is not the first time Russia has floated the idea of the two leaders meeting in Moscow. Last year, President Zelensky rejected the proposal and suggested that President Putin should go to Kyiv instead.
Meanwhile, an unnamed US official told Axios last weekend that a bilateral meeting between Russian and Ukrainian leaders is very close to becoming a reality, after Washington brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi (UAE) last week.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
