As Ukraine battles ongoing Russian attacks,President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to meet with former U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida today to discuss potential pathways to peace [[1]]. The meeting follows a phone call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin just hours before the scheduled session,raising questions about the former president’s role as a potential mediator [[2]].Zelenskyy is expected to seek Trump’s backing for a revised peace plan that diverges from earlier proposals seen as favorable to Moscow [[3]].
The conversation was “good and very productive,” former U.S. President Donald Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network, without providing further details. The meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to take place in Florida later today and will focus on peace plans put forward by Trump and revised in accordance with the positions of Kyiv and Moscow.
The phone call with Putin occurred less than two hours before his scheduled meeting with Zelenskyy. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov confirmed the contact, but did not disclose specifics. “I just had a good and productive phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin before my meeting today at 1:00 PM with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
The meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy will be the first between the two leaders since October, when the Ukrainian president unsuccessfully sought Tomahawk missiles from his American counterpart.
On that occasion as well, Trump spoke with Putin beforehand. A summit in Budapest was planned at the time, but ultimately did not take place after Moscow withdrew from the agreement days prior. What Zelenskyy is seeking
This time, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is seeking Donald Trump’s approval for a revised peace plan for Ukraine, presented by Washington nearly a month ago. The Ukrainian president released the revised document this week, following tough negotiations demanded by Kyiv, which considered the initial version too close to Russian demands.
The new version proposes freezing the front lines at their current positions, without offering an immediate solution to Russia’s territorial claims, which control approximately 20 percent of Ukraine.
The new document also abandons two key demands from the Kremlin: the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk region and a legally binding commitment from Ukraine not to join NATO.
The reception Donald Trump will give to Zelenskyy is surrounded by uncertainty. “I don’t think he’s going to get anything until I approve it,” the former president told Politico on Friday, setting the stage for the meeting. Despite this, Donald Trump expressed confidence. “I think it will go very well with him.”
“Obstacle to peace”
A spokesperson for Zelenskyy confirmed that the two presidents, American and Ukrainian, will also speak with European leaders on a conference call. At the same time, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stated that peace in Ukraine must preserve Ukraine’s “sovereignty” and “territorial integrity.”
On Saturday, several European leaders criticized the overnight attack on Kyiv on February 27, which killed and injured several people and disabled power lines, leaving one million homes without heating for two hours and their inhabitants exposed to sub-zero temperatures.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the missile and drone bombardment proved that Moscow is not interested in peace.
For his part, on Saturday, the Russian president stated that, “if the authorities in Kyiv do not want to resolve this dispute peacefully, we will resolve all the problems we face by force.” For Russia, which has found in Donald Trump an effective ally for some of its claims, “Europe and the European Union have become the main obstacle to peace,” according to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
with agencies
The planned meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy comes at a critical juncture in the conflict, as Ukraine continues to seek international support against Russia’s ongoing invasion. The outcome of the discussions could significantly influence the trajectory of peace negotiations and the future of the war.
