Zelensky plans to meet with Trump on Sunday to discuss peace deal

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky said he would meet US President Donald Trump in Florida this weekend, as negotiations continue to end Russia’s large-scale war.

Zelensky said he expected the meeting to take place on Sunday and focus on a 20-point peace plan negotiated by the United States, as well as separate proposals regarding American security guarantees.

At the same time, the Kremlin says President Vladimir Putin’s top aide held further telephone talks with US officials and that Russia is committed to continuing negotiations.

Russia spoke of “slow but steady progress” in the negotiations, but did not comment on Zelensky’s offer to withdraw his troops from eastern Donbass, if Russia also withdraws.

Ukraine has sought guarantees from the United States as part of a deal, and Zelensky has suggested that a demilitarized “free economic zone” would be a potential option for areas of Donbas that Russia has failed to take by force.

On Friday, Zelensky said he received an update on the latest technical negotiations from his top negotiator, Rustem Umerov.

He wrote on social media: “We are not wasting a single day. We have agreed on a meeting at the highest level – with President Trump in the near future. Many things can be decided before the new year.”

A meeting at the White House between Zelensky and Trump in February, the first after the US president’s return to power, plunged into a fight of hostile criesalthough their last meeting at the White House in October was much more amicable.

Confirmation of the planned top-level talks came after the Ukrainian leader said he spoke on the phone for an hour with Trump’s chief negotiators, special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, on Christmas Day.

He said the last round of negotiations had generated “new ideas” on how to end the warand described it as a “very good conversation”.

The White House has proposed establishing what would effectively be a demilitarized zone in eastern Ukraine, where both sides agree not to deploy troops — a compromise that would avoid settling the intractable question of legal ownership of the disputed territory.

Zelensky signaled Wednesday that if Ukraine were to withdraw up to 40 km (25 miles) from the front line in the east to create an economic zone, then Russia should do the same from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine’s industrial heartland in Donbass.

Ukraine secured a number of changes from a previous draft 28-point plan, formulated by Steve Witkoff but widely seen as favorable to Russia.

Zelensky told reporters Friday that the weekend negotiations in Florida would focus on several documents, including U.S. security guarantees and a separate economic deal.

However, Zelensky has repeatedly stated that the territorial issue has proven to be the most difficult issue to resolve, along with the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

The White House has proposed to Ukraine and Russia to share the energy produced by the plant, the largest in Europe. Russian troops currently control it.

Russia is unlikely to accept a number of points of the updated US plan, including its territorial proposals. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused “groups of states, mainly from Western Europe” of seeking to derail diplomatic progress made.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that further talks would take place between the Russian and US delegations, following last weekend’s meeting between US negotiators and a delegation led by Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Miami.

Another close aide, Yuri Ushakov, has held additional telephone conversations with the White House, and more are planned, Peskov added.

Zelensky presented the latest version of the plan this week, the first time since the initial 28-point draft was leaked in November.

The latest proposals commit the United States and Europe to providing security guarantees modeled on NATO’s Article 5, committing their allies to provide military support in the event Russia launches another invasion.

The deal would also keep Ukraine’s military strength at 800,000, a level the Kremlin has demanded be reduced.

Meanwhile, fighting and airstrikes continue. Ukrainian authorities have reported at least four deaths following strikes since the morning of December 25, while the air force said it shot down 73 drones overnight.

Russia also said it shot down projectiles overnight, including British Storm Shadow missiles. Ukraine’s air force said it struck oil and gas refineries in Rostov and Krasnodar.