Zelenskyy To Meet Trump In Florida As Talks Intensify On Ending Ukraine War

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he plans to meet US President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday, as diplomatic efforts intensify to end Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine, according to BBC.

Zelenskyy said the talks would focus on a US-brokered peace proposal and separate discussions on American security guarantees for Ukraine. However, a senior Russian official said the US plan differed sharply from the framework Moscow has been discussing with Washington, BBC reported.

The Kremlin has not responded to Zelenskyy’s suggestion that Ukraine could withdraw troops from parts of the eastern Donbas region if Russia also pulls back. Moscow currently controls about 75% of Donetsk and nearly all of neighbouring Luhansk, which together make up the Donbas.

As diplomatic contacts continued, Russian attacks persisted. At least five people were injured in Kyiv overnight during a fresh wave of air strikes, the city’s mayor said, with another person wounded in the surrounding region, according to BBC. Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said Ukrainian air defence units were responding to the attack, while residents reported explosions across the capital.

Ukraine’s air force warned on Saturday that a nationwide drone and missile threat remained in place as the Russian assault continued into the morning. Separately, the mayor of Kharkiv said two people were killed and several others wounded in a Russian air strike on the north-eastern city shortly after news of Zelenskyy’s planned Florida visit emerged, BBC reported.

Ukraine has been seeking firm US security guarantees as part of any settlement. Zelenskyy has floated the idea of a demilitarised “free economic zone” in areas of Donbas that Russian forces have been unable to seize. On Friday, he told reporters that a 20-point peace plan was 90% complete, saying: “Our task is to make sure everything is 100% ready.”

Writing on social media, Zelenskyy said: “We are not losing a single day. We have agreed on a meeting at the highest level – with President Trump in the near future. A lot can be decided before the new year.”

Trump, however, struck a more guarded tone in an interview with Politico published on Friday, saying Zelenskyy “doesn’t have anything until I approve it.” He added: “I think it’s going to go good with him. I think it’s going to go good with [Vladimir] Putin.” Trump also said he expected to speak with the Russian president “soon” and confirmed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would visit him in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Putin’s senior aides have held further telephone discussions with US officials following Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev’s return from a meeting in Florida last weekend. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov welcomed recent developments but accused Ukraine of trying to “torpedo” negotiations on the US plan.

“I think December 25, 2025, will remain in all our memories as a milestone when we truly came close to a solution,” Ryabkov told Russian state television on Friday. “But whether we can make the final push and reach an agreement depends on our work and the political will of the other side.”

Zelenskyy has met Trump several times this year. An initial White House meeting in February ended in a heated exchange, but their most recent talks in October were described as more amicable, according to BBC.

Confirmation of the upcoming meeting followed a phone call on Christmas Day between Zelenskyy and Trump’s chief negotiators, special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Zelenskyy said the hour-long discussion produced “new ideas” for ending the war and described it as a “really good conversation.”

The White House has proposed the creation of what would effectively be a demilitarised zone in eastern Ukraine, under which both sides would agree not to deploy troops. The proposal would sidestep the unresolved question of legal ownership of the contested territories, BBC reported.

(With inputs from BBC)