Zelenskiy meeting Trump in Florida for talks on Ukraine peace plan

PALM BEACH, Florida – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday, hoping to forge a plan to end the war in Ukraine, but the American leader’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly before the meeting suggests obstacles to peace remain.

Zelenskiy has said he hopes to soften a U.S. proposal for Ukrainian forces to withdraw completely from the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, a Russian demand that would mean ceding some territory held by Ukrainian forces.

Just before Zelenskiy and his delegation arrived at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, the U.S. and Russian presidents spoke in a call described as “productive” by Trump and “friendly” by Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov.

Ushakov, in Moscow, said Putin told Trump a 60-day ceasefire proposed by the European Union and Ukraine would prolong the war. The Kremlin aide also said Ukraine needs to make a quick decision about land in the Donbas.

Meeting follows Russian air raids on Kyiv

Zelenskiy arrived at Mar-a-Lago early on Sunday afternoon, as Russian air raids pile pressure on Kyiv.

Russia hit the capital and other parts of Ukraine with hundreds of missiles and drones on Saturday, knocking out power and heat in parts of Kyiv. Zelenskiy has described the weekend attacks as Russia’s response to the U.S.-brokered peace efforts, but Trump on Sunday said he believes Putin and Zelenskiy are serious about peace.

“I do think we have the makings of a deal,” Trump said. “We have two willing countries. We are in the final stages of talking,” Trump said.

The U.S. president said he will call Putin again after meeting with Zelenskiy.

Zelenskiy had previously told journalists he plans to discuss the fate of the contested Donbas region with Trump, as well as the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and other topics.

Russia claims more battlefield advances

Moscow has repeatedly insisted that Ukraine yield all of the Donbas, even areas still under Kyiv’s control, and Russian officials have objected to other parts of the latest proposal, sparking doubts about whether Putin would accept whatever Sunday's talks might produce.

Putin said on Saturday Moscow would continue waging its war if Kyiv did not seek a quick peace. Russia has steadily advanced on the battlefield in recent months, claiming control over several more settlements on Sunday.

A recent poll suggests Ukrainian voters may reject the plan.

Zelenskiy’s in-person meeting with Trump follows weeks of diplomatic efforts. European allies, while at times cut out of the loop, have stepped up efforts to sketch out the contours of a post-war security guarantee for Kyiv that the United States would support.

On Sunday, ahead of his meeting with Trump, Zelenskiy said he held a detailed phone call with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Trump and Zelenskiy were due to hold a phone call with European leaders during their Florida meeting, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian president said on Sunday.

Sticking points over territory

Kyiv and Washington have agreed on many issues, and Zelenskiy said on Friday that the 20-point plan was 90% finished. But the issue of what territory, if any, will be ceded to Russia remains unresolved.

While Moscow insists on getting all of the Donbas, Kyiv wants the map frozen at current battle lines.

The United States, seeking a compromise, has proposed a free economic zone if Ukraine leaves the area, although it remains unclear how that zone would function in practical terms.

It has also proposed shared control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, where power line repairs have begun after another local ceasefire brokered by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the agency said on Sunday.

Zelenskiy, whose past meetings with Trump have not always gone smoothly, worries along with his European allies that Trump could sell out Ukraine and leave European powers to foot the bill for supporting a devastated nation, after Russian forces took 12 to 17 square km (4.6-6.6 square miles) of its territory per day in 2025.

Russia controls all of Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, and since its invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago has taken control of about 12% of its territory, including about 90% of Donbas, 75% of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and slivers of the Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, according to Russian estimates.

Putin said on December 19 that a peace deal should be based on conditions he set out in 2024: Ukraine withdrawing from all of the Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and Kyiv officially renouncing its aim to join NATO.

Ukrainian officials and European leaders view the war as an imperial-style land grab by Moscow and have warned that if Russia gets its way with Ukraine, it will one day attack NATO members.

The 20-point plan was spun off from a Russian-led 28-point plan, which emerged from talks between U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev, and which became public in November.

Subsequent talks between Ukrainian officials and U.S. negotiators have produced the more Kyiv-friendly 20-point plan.  — Reuters