{"id":57454,"date":"2025-12-28T18:38:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T22:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/trump-pushes-russia-ukraine-peace-deal-to-final-phase-amid-thorny-issues-north-korea-conducts-missile-drill\/57454\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T18:38:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T22:38:11","slug":"trump-pushes-russia-ukraine-peace-deal-to-final-phase-amid-thorny-issues-north-korea-conducts-missile-drill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/trump-pushes-russia-ukraine-peace-deal-to-final-phase-amid-thorny-issues-north-korea-conducts-missile-drill\/57454\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Pushes Russia-Ukraine Peace Deal to &#8220;Final Phase&#8221; Amid Thorny Issues; North Korea Conducts Missile Drill"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Former President Donald <a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/live\/trump-stock-market\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Trump\">Trump<\/a> has indicated that Russia-Ukraine peace talks are entering a &quot;final phase,&quot; with a deal reportedly &quot;much closer&quot; after a &quot;very productive&quot; call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and a subsequent meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The proposed peace agreement is said to hinge on Ukrainian concessions and Russian buy-in, even as <a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/live\/trump-stock-market\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Trump\">Trump<\/a> acknowledged that &quot;one or two thorny issues&quot; still need to be resolved.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>European Union President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed a &quot;good one-hour call&quot; with Trump and Zelenskiy, stating that Europe is prepared to continue working with Ukraine and U.S. partners to solidify progress in the ongoing discussions.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Separately, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a strategic cruise missile launch drill and asserted the necessity of regular checks on the nation&#39;s nuclear deterrent, citing prevailing security threats.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Intense diplomatic efforts, spearheaded by former President Donald Trump, are reportedly pushing Russia-Ukraine peace talks into their &quot;final phase.&quot; Trump announced that a deal is &quot;much closer&quot; following a &quot;terrific meeting&quot; with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at Mar-a-Lago, which came after a &quot;very productive&quot; call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. These discussions signal a significant push toward resolving the protracted conflict.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the reported progress, Trump noted that &quot;one or two thorny issues&quot; remain to be addressed. The potential peace agreement is understood to be contingent on both Ukrainian concessions and Russian buy-in, suggesting complex negotiations are still underway. European Union President Ursula von der Leyen also weighed in, confirming a &quot;good one-hour call&quot; with Trump and Zelenskiy and affirming Europe&#39;s readiness to collaborate with Ukraine and U.S. partners to consolidate the advancements made.<\/p>\n<p>Concurrently, geopolitical tensions in East Asia have escalated following actions by North Korea. Leader Kim Jong Un supervised a strategic cruise missile launch drill, as reported by KCNA. This military exercise was accompanied by Kim Jong Un&#39;s statement emphasizing the &quot;responsible&quot; nature of regular checks on North Korea&#39;s nuclear deterrent, citing heightened security threats in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Former President Donald Trump has indicated that Russia-Ukraine peace talks are entering a &quot;final phase,&quot; with a deal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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