The highly anticipated meeting between
US President Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky ended in Florida without any noticeable breakthrough, but in a positive mood. Asked when a deal might be possible, Trump said after Sunday’s meeting: “If things go really well, maybe in a few weeks. And if things go worse, longer. And if things go really badly, then it won’t happen.”
Both heads of state expressed their confidence about the peace negotiations Ukrainian war and spoke of very good discussions during a joint press conference. The US President initially spoke of a fantastic meeting. “We’re getting much closer (to an agreement), maybe even very close,” Trump told the press at Trump’s private residence, Mar-a-Lago. However, there are still one or two difficult questions.
Zelenskyj calls security guarantees 100 percent solved
Zelensky also said he had a great discussion with Trump. “We have agreed that our teams will meet in the coming weeks to finalize all the matters discussed,” Zelensky said. There could be a meeting in Washington with Trump, the Ukrainians and Europeans in January. The problem of security assurances has been 100 percent solved. The US President, however, said that this question had been 95 percent solved. According to Trump, Russia will also help rebuild Ukraine.
An official statement from the Russian government was initially not available. Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev wrote in an initial reaction to X: “The whole world appreciates the peace efforts of President Trump and his team.”
According to Trump, it should be clear “in a few weeks” how the negotiations for peace in the Ukraine war could end and whether a solution to end the Ukraine war could be reached. At the beginning of the meeting in Florida, Trump said that Negotiations are in their “final phase”. Shortly before dinner with Zelensky, the US President also spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Approaching the future of the contested Donbass region
According to Trump, the governments in Kyiv and Moscow have also come closer on one of the central points of contention, the status of the Russian-occupied Donbass industrial region in eastern Ukraine. “It hasn’t been solved yet, but we’re getting closer and closer to the goal,” said the US President.
At the center of the negotiations is one of the Ukraine revised version of US plan to end Russian war of aggression. The USA presented a 28-point plan in November. The text, which was criticized as being Russia-friendly, was revised in recent weeks at the insistence of Ukraine and its European allies. The new version of the plan contains 20 points. This includes, among other things, a freezing of the current front line. Ukraine would therefore withdraw some of its troops in the east of the country to create a demilitarized buffer zone – it would be the largest territorial concession for Ukraine.
Two of Putin’s key demands – the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the entire eastern Ukrainian Donbas region and a legally binding refusal by Ukraine to join NATO – are not included in the plan.
EU Commission speaks of “good progress”
European heads of state and government also joined in during the negotiations. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote then in the short message service Xgood progress has been made with the approximately one-hour switch. Europe is ready to continue working with Ukraine and US partners to consolidate this progress. “Unbreakable security guarantees” are essential from day one. The phone call lasted an hour.
