A senior Kremlin official played down the chances of swift progress on Ukraine peace talks as separate meetings in Florida between US and Russian envoys and US and Ukrainian officials wrapped up on December 21.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has accused Russia of abducting 50 civilians in a cross-border attack.
"Fighting is currently ongoing in the village of Hrabovske," Ukrainian military authorities said, adding the troops were "making efforts to drive the occupiers back into Russian territory."
No Peace By Christmas
Russian chief negotiator Kirill Dmitriev concluded the second day of talks with US counterparts, while US and Ukrainian envoys met separately, also in Florida. The Ukrainian team said it also met at the site "with key national security advisers" from its European allies.
But Yury Ushakov, foreign policy aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, told reporters in Moscow on December 21 to expect no breakthrough.
Dmitriev, he said, would simply return to Moscow and make a report.
"The Americans are celebrating Christmas in these days. Not many people are going to be working," Ushakov said.
Rustem Umerov, who has led Ukrainian diplomats in Florida, said he met separately with the US team -- led by special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
"We work constructively and substantively. We hope for further progress and practical results," he wrote on social media.
Ushakov also poured cold water on a statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Washington had proposed three-way talks.
"So far, no one has seriously discussed this initiative, and it is not being worked on, as far as I know," he said, adding that Dmitriev was only holding talks with US officials.
The Florida talks follow a week of intense diplomatic activity, with US envoys meeting with European and Ukrainian officials.
Trump in November began pressing Kyiv to accept a 28-point proposal that critics said was heavily skewed in Russia's favor.
Ukraine and its European backers scrambled to make amendments to protect Ukraine's interests on territory, security guarantees for Kyiv, and other issues, with reports suggesting the plan now consists of 20 points and takes in more of Kyiv's interests.
“I am sure that the proposals that the Europeans and Ukrainians have made or are trying to make definitely do not improve the document and do not improve the possibility of achieving long-term peace,” Ushakov said.
Ukraine Evacuates Civilians
As diplomacy continued, so did Russian military attacks on Ukraine.
Authorities were evacuating people from part of Ukraine's Sumy region bordering Russia, amid reports that Russian forces had abducted civilians and taken them to Russia.
"It’s unclear what’s going on there. They keep coming at us," one evacuee, who gave her name as Tetyana, told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on December 21.
Ukraine's ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said he had written to his Russian counterpart, Tatyana Moskalkova, demanding information about the whereabouts of the kidnapped Ukrainian citizens.
He has also appealed to the International Red Cross for help.
"I call on the international community...to stop the illegal deportations of the civilian population of Ukraine," he said.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported 97 incoming Russian drones across the country, of which 19 managed to get through air defenses. There were no immediate reports of fatalities.
Pokrovsk Fighting Continues
The Ukrainian General Staff reported ongoing battles on the front lines on December 21. A statement said there had been 235 combat clashes on the front over the past 24 hours, many of them around Pokrovsk in the eastern Donbas region.
During his annual news conference on December 19, Putin highlighted Russian advances in Pokrovsk, a Donetsk region city that Moscow has prioritized for nearly a year and is in danger of falling to Russia.
Ukraine claims its forces still control the city center and northern districts.
It has not been possible to verify battlefield reports.
