US President Donald Trump said Sunday that a deal was closer than ever to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but reported no apparent breakthrough on the flashpoint issue of territory after new talks with the warring countries’ leaders.
Trump, who had promised a peace deal on day one of his nearly year-old presidency, said it would become clear within weeks whether it was possible to end the war that has killed tens of thousands of people since February 2022.
In a pre-New Year’s diplomatic sprint, Trump brought Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Florida, where the two met with top aides over lunch, a day after Russia unleashed major new attacks on residential areas of the capital Kyiv.
Much like when Zelensky last met Trump in October, Russian President Vladimir Putin also spoke shortly beforehand by telephone with the US leader, who immediately insisted that Moscow was “serious” about peace despite the assault.
After their talks, Zelensky and Trump spoke jointly by telephone with key European leaders, who have been particularly alarmed about any decisions that would embolden Russia. Zelensky said that he and European leaders could return jointly for talks with Trump in Washington in January.
Throughout his visit, Zelensky remained studiously polite, likely mindful of his disastrous White House meeting on Feb 28 where Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly berated him for not being sufficiently grateful.
Trump acknowledged continued disagreement between Kyiv and Moscow on territory. The current plan would stop the war at the current frontlines in the eastern Donbas region and set up a demilitarized area. “It’s unresolved, but it’s getting a lot closer. That’s a very tough issue, but one that I think will get resolved,” Trump said.
Zelensky has voiced an openness to the revised US plan, marking Kyiv’s most explicit acknowledgement yet of possible territorial concessions, although Ukrainian voters would need to approve it in a referendum.
While Zelensky said the peace framework was “90 percent agreed” and security guarantees “100 percent agreed,” Russia has shown no signs of compromise. “If the authorities in Kyiv don’t want to settle this business peacefully, we’ll resolve all the problems before us by military means,” Putin said on Saturday.
