The 'thorny' issues that threaten to derail a Russia-Ukraine peace deal

Two of the main sticking points involve territory and the fate of Europe's biggest nuclear plant, which is currently occupied by Russia.

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Two of the trickiest issues in Washington's 20-point plan involve territory and the fate of Europe's biggest nuclear plant, which is currently occupied by Russia.

The Kremlin agrees with Trump that negotiations are "at a final stage", and Zelensky's next step is to meet European leaders in France on 6 January, but any one of the sticking points could jeopardise a deal.

Vladimir Putin has not budged from his maximalist demand for the whole of Ukraine's industrial Donbas, although Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky has offered a compromise.

Russian forces occupy most of the Luhansk region in the east but little more than 75% of Donetsk, and Putin wants it all, including the remaining "fortress belt" cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.