PALM BEACH, Florida: While acknowledging that the disputed Donbas region remains a key unresolved issue, U.S. President Donald Trump said on December 28 that he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were getting closer to an agreement to end the war in Ukraine.
Speaking at a joint news conference after meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, both leaders reported progress on two of the most contentious issues in peace talks - security guarantees for Ukraine and the division of eastern Ukraine's Donbas region that Russia has sought to capture.
Shortly before Zelenskyy's arrival, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone call. Which Trump described as "productive," and Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov called "friendly."
Neither Trump nor Zelenskyy provided many details about a deadline for completing a peace deal. Trump said a few "thorny issues" over territory must be resolved, and that negotiations to end the war could take a few weeks to succeed.
The leaders also gave few details about any agreements on security guarantees for Ukraine after the war, which Zelenskyy called "the key milestone to achieving lasting peace."
Trump, however, was more reticent, saying that they were 95 percent of the way to an agreement. He expected European countries to "take over a big part" of that effort with U.S. backing.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said in a post on X, published after Trump met Zelenskyy, that progress had been made on security guarantees. He said countries in the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" would meet in Paris in early January to finalise their specific commitments.
Zelenskyy has previously said he hopes to soften a U.S. proposal that would see Ukrainian forces fully withdraw from Donbas. This Russian demand would require Ukraine to give up territory currently held by its troops. While Moscow wants control of all of Donbas, Kyiv wants the front lines to remain where they are.
Both Trump and Zelenskyy said the future of Donbas had not yet been decided, though Trump said talks were "moving in the right direction." The United States has suggested creating a free economic zone if Ukraine leaves the area, but it is unclear how this would work in practice.
"It's unresolved, but it's getting much closer. That's a very tough issue," Trump said.
Zelenskyy said any peace deal would need approval from Ukraine's parliament or through a referendum. Trump said he would be willing to address parliament if that would help secure the agreement.
