Trump says progress made in Ukraine talks but ‘thorny issues’ remain

Donald Trump

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky said progress had been made to end the Ukraine war during Florida talks but the US president acknowledged the problem of territory remained “unresolved”.

While both the US and Ukrainian presidents described the talks as “great”, Trump said “one or two very thorny issues” remained outstanding – most notably on the issue of land.

Addressing reporters at Mar-a-Lago, Zelensky said they had come to an agreement on “90%” of the 20-point peace plan, while Trump said a security guarantee for Ukraine was “close to 95%” done.

Zelensky later said US and Ukrainian teams would meet next week for further talks on issues aimed at ending Russia’s almost four-year war in Ukraine.

“We had a substance conversation on all issues and highly value the progress that the Ukrainian and American teams have made over the past weeks,” Zelensky said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.

A proposal to turn the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, which Russia largely controls, into a demilitarized zone remains “unresolved”, Trump said.

“Some of that land has been taken,” he told reporters after the meeting. “Some of that land is probably up for grabs, but it may be taken over the next period of a number of months.”

Moscow presently controls about 75% of the Donetsk region, and some 99% of the neighboring Luhansk. The regions are collectively known as Donbas.

Russia wants Ukraine to pull back from the small part of the territory it still controls in Donbas, while Kyiv has insisted the area could become a free economic zone policed by Ukrainian forces.

The US president has repeatedly changed his own position on Ukraine’s lost territories, and in September stunned observers by suggesting that Ukraine might be capable of taking it back. He later reversed course.

“[That] is a very tough issue,” he said. “One that will get resolved.”

Security guarantees for Ukraine are “95% done”, Trump said, without formally committing to logistics support or troop deployment to help protect Ukraine from future attacks.

Trump floated the possibility of trilateral talks between the US, Russia, and Ukraine, saying it could happen “at the right time”.

While the US president is eager to add the Ukraine-Russia war to the list of conflicts he claims to have ended, he cautioned that stalled or scrapped talks that go “really badly” could mean that the war continues.

Previously Trump had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. While the US president did not offer many details of the phone call, he said he believed the Russian leader “wants Ukraine to succeed”.

At the same time, Trump admitted that Moscow had little interest in a ceasefire that would allow Ukraine to hold a referendum.

“I understand that position,” he added.

Russian foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov said the call was initiated by Trump and that he and Putin discussed the latest EU and Ukraine proposals to end the war.

Ushakov, Russia’s former US ambassador, said Trump listened to the Kremlin’s assessment of the proposals and the two Presidents left the call united in their belief that a temporary ceasefire proposed by the EU and Ukraine would instead prolong the conflict.

Zelensky suggested the Ukrainian officials could meet at the White House in January, potentially beside European leaders, as the US and Ukrainian delegations finalize plans for further talks.

In a post-meeting call with European allies, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed “good progress” in the Florida talks while reinforcing the need for Ukraine to receive “ironclad security guarantees from day one.”

United States President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for talks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and said the two leaders were “getting a lot closer, perhaps very close” to a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump and Zelenskyy reported progress on two of the most controversial issues in the peace talks: security guarantees for Ukraine and the division of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region that Russia has sought to capture.

On security guarantees, Zelenskyy said that a deal had been reached, while Trump said they were 95 percent of the way to such an agreement.

Both Trump and Zelenskyy said that the future of the mostly Russian-occupied Donbas had not been settled, although the US president said discussions were “moving in the right direction”. “It’s unresolved, but it’s getting a lot closer. That’s a very tough issue,” Trump said.

The two leaders did not offer further details or a deadline for completing the deal, but Zelenskyy said any peace agreement would have to be approved by Ukraine’s Parliament or by a referendum.

Shortly after the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, wrote on
Ahead of the meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump and Putin spoke for more than two hours on the telephone. The US president described the call as “excellent” and “productive”.

Trump said he would call Putin again after the meeting with Zelenskyy.

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said the initial call was “friendly” and that Putin had told Trump that a 60-day ceasefire, proposed by the European Union and Ukraine, would simply extend the war.

Ushakov said that a “bold, responsible, political decision is needed from Kyiv” on the Donbas region and other disputed matters for there to be a “complete cessation” of hostilities.

European leaders, including those from Finland, France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom, joined at least part of the Trump–Zelenskyy meeting by phone.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement that Europe was prepared to keep working with Ukraine and the US, and that having ironclad security guarantees would be of “paramount” importance.

French President Macron said that progress had been made on security guarantees at the meeting. Macron said that countries in the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” would meet in Paris in early January to finalize their “concrete contributions”.

Zelenskyy said that Trump had agreed to host European leaders again, possibly at the White House, sometimes in January. Trump said the meeting could be in Washington, DC, or “someplace”.

Earlier on Sunday,

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov warned that any European troop contingents deployed to Ukraine would become legitimate targets for Russia’s forces. Lavrov also accused European politicians of being driven by “ambitions” in their relations with Kiev, and disregarding the people of Ukraine and of their own nations.

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