Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Florida and said Ukraine and Russia are closer to a peace deal, though talks could still fail.
Major sticking points include control of the Donbas region and security guarantees to prevent future Russian invasions.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine is ready for peace, with negotiators saying a draft deal is about 90% complete.
While hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Florida property on Sunday, President Donald Trump asserted that Ukraine and Russia are "closer than ever before" to a peace agreement. However, he also recognised that the negotiations are complicated and might fail, prolonging the war for years.
Following what Trump described as an "excellent" two-and-a-half-hour phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose invasion of Ukraine sparked the conflict nearly four years ago, the president made his remarks after the leaders convened for discussions. While Zelenskyy flew to the United States for the most recent round of negotiations, Russia launched another series of attacks on Ukraine, but Trump maintained that he believes Putin still wanted peace.
“Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed,” Trump said during a late afternoon news conference as he stood with Zelenskyy after their meeting. He repeatedly praised his counterpart as “brave.”
Both Trump and Zelenskyy agreed that difficult problems still exist, such as whether Russia can maintain control over Ukrainian land and security assurances for Ukraine to prevent future invasions. Following their debate, they summoned a large group of European leaders, including the heads of Finland, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission.
Zelenskyy stated that Trump agreed to host European leaders once more in January, perhaps at the White House. Trump said the meeting could be in Washington or “someplace.”
Zelenskyy thanked Trump for his work. He declared, "Ukraine is prepared for peace."
Trump said he’d follow the meeting with another call to Putin. Earlier Sunday, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said the Trump-Putin call was initiated by the U.S. side and was “friendly, benevolent and businesslike.” Ushakov said Trump and Putin agreed to speak again “promptly” after Trump met with Zelenskyy.
But Ushakov added that a “bold, responsible, political decision is needed from Kyiv” on the fiercely contested Donbas region in eastern Ukraine and other matters in dispute for there to be a “complete cessation” of hostilities.
Both leaders identified deciding the future of the Donbas region as a major sticking point.
Trump said the parties were inching closer to agreement. “That’s a very tough issue, but one that I think will get resolved,” he said.
Zelenskyy said, “Our attitude is very clear. That’s why President Trump said this is a very tough question and, of course, we have with Russia different positions on it.”
Trump and Zelenskyy’s sit-down underscored the apparent progress made by Trump’s top negotiators in recent weeks as the sides traded draft peace plans to end the fighting. Zelenskyy told reporters Friday that the 20-point draft proposal negotiators have discussed is “about 90% ready” — echoing a figure and the optimism that U.S. officials conveyed when Trump’s chief negotiators met with Zelenskyy in Berlin this month.
During the recent talks, the U.S. agreed to offer certain security guarantees to Ukraine similar to those offered to other members of NATO. The proposal came as Zelenskyy said he was prepared to drop his country’s bid to join the security alliance if Ukraine received NATO-like protection that would be designed to safeguard it against future Russian attacks.
