Polina Litvinova

President Zelenskyy says Ukraine and the US haven't reached a consensus on the issue of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.

Russia lost tens of thousands soldiers trying to take the region but didn't manage to fully occupy it.

And now Ukraine is being asked to withdraw its troops from the region as part of a peace deal.

Ukrainian soldier Maksim Mandrykovsky says retreating will only help Russia to advance in future.

We have a serious defense line there that has been fortified for many years, he says.

Many Ukrainians agree the recent survey shows over 70% are ready to freeze the war along the current front line, but not to give up lands that Russia does not control.

Polina Litvinova, NPR News, Kyiv.

Ukraine's Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustam Umerov announced that he has had consultations with Turkey and the United Arab Emirates on the resumption of the POW's exchanges between Ukraine and Russia.

In his post on social media, Umerov wrote, this would help to activate the agreements the two countries made during the direct talks in Istanbul.

Ukraine hopes to return home more than 1,000 people before Christmas.

The last prisoner exchange was in October.

So far, such swaps are the only progress Ukraine and Russia have achieved since their direct negotiations renewed in spring.

Polina Litvinova, NPR News, Kyiv.