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- Автор, Отдел новостей
- Место работы, Русская служба Би-би-си
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Friday he will meet with former U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday, December 28, despite Trump’s previous statements suggesting he saw no point in a meeting until a peace deal for Ukraine was finalized. The planned meeting underscores ongoing, albeit complex, diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict.
Axios reported earlier that the meeting was scheduled for December 28 and would take place at Trump’s private residence.
Zelenskyy said a 20-point plan, developed by representatives from the U.S. and Ukraine, is “90% ready.”
“Our task is to make sure everything is 100% ready. It’s not simple, and no one says it will be 100% immediately. But nevertheless, we must bring the desired result closer with each such meeting, each such conversation,” the Ukrainian leader stated.
Trump was more cautious in his assessment of the progress toward an agreement.
“He’s got nothing unless I approve it. So we’ll see what he offers,” Trump told Politico in an exclusive comment.
Zelenskyy told Ukrainian media Friday that security guarantees for Ukraine and an economic agreement would be the main topics of discussion with the former U.S. president on Sunday.
“There are still basic drafts, although there will be several deals,” Zelenskyy said, according to RBK-Ukraine, adding that initial drafts of several documents have been prepared, but some issues need to be discussed at the presidential level.
Zelenskyy later told Axios he hopes to reach a framework agreement with Trump to end the war.
He also said he is prepared to put the plan to a referendum if Russia agrees to a ceasefire of at least 60 days.
The anticipated meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump on Sunday is “a sign of significant progress” in negotiations toward a peace plan, Axios reports.
Trump had previously stated he would only meet with Zelenskyy if he felt a deal was close to completion, the publication noted.
The planned meeting comes after talks between Ukrainian and Russian representatives with Trump’s envoys took place in Florida over the weekend.
A senior U.S. official described the talks with Rustem Umerov, head of the Ukrainian delegation, and Russian representative Kirill Dmitriev as “positive and constructive.”
“We’ve gotten as far as we can get with the Russians and Ukrainians. We’ve made more progress in the last two weeks than we’ve made in the entire past year. We want to get there. We’re moving in the right direction,” the official said, according to Axios.
The Core of the Plan
On Wednesday, Zelenskyy presented details of an updated 20-point peace plan agreed upon by U.S. and Ukrainian delegations in Florida. The plan was offered in response to a 28-point plan drafted by Russia and the U.S.
Key elements of the Ukrainian plan focus on signing a new agreement on Ukraine’s sovereignty, Ukraine’s membership in the EU, the size of Ukraine’s armed forces during peacetime, and security guarantees.
Kyiv also insists that Russia enshrine a policy of non-aggression toward Europe and Ukraine in its legislation.
The most challenging aspect of the plan for agreement, according to its authors, is the issue of territories.
Ukraine insists that any ceasefire must be fixed along the line of actual troop deployment at the time of the agreement, without recognizing any territorial changes.
“But in fact, we are in a situation where the Russians want us to withdraw from the Donetsk region, and the Americans are trying to find a way to make it not a withdrawal – because we are against withdrawal,” Zelenskyy said earlier.
The U.S. has proposed creating a demilitarized or free economic zone in the Donetsk region as a compromise.
Ukraine can only accept this through a referendum, Zelenskyy said, requiring 60 days for organization with a real ceasefire in place.
What the U.S. Is Willing to Offer
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Zelenskyy reported earlier that he spoke by phone for about an hour with U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
“And it was a really good conversation: a lot of details, there are good ideas, we discussed them. There are some of our new ideas on how to bring the desired result closer,” the Ukrainian president wrote.
A senior U.S. official confirmed that the U.S. is prepared to provide security guarantees similar to Article 5 of the NATO charter on collective defense: “The U.S. and Europe will provide security guarantees to Ukraine. If Russia invades Ukraine, there will be a military response and sanctions will be reimposed.”
The U.S. previously proposed that areas from which Ukraine would be forced to withdraw become a demilitarized “free economic zone.”
Zelenskyy insists on an equivalent withdrawal of Russian troops from the front lines and emphasizes that any territorial concessions must be approved by referendum.
Russia’s Position
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According to analysts at the New York Times, Russia is likely to reject the Ukrainian-American peace plan for the following reasons:
- The Kremlin is emboldened by the advance of Russian forces on the front lines;
- the proposed plan would be difficult to present to the Russian public as a victory;
- the plan does not include key Russian territorial demands, such as the transfer of the entire Donetsk region to Russia;
Hundreds of thousands of Russians signed contracts to participate in the war in 2025, allowing Moscow to continue the war despite heavy losses.
As Bloomberg reports, Moscow may view the 20 points from Zelenskyy only as a starting point for negotiations.
An anonymous source close to the Kremlin told the agency. According to the source, the plan lacks important provisions for Russia and answers to many questions.
Specifically, Russia is not satisfied with the lack of guarantees against further NATO expansion to the east and Ukraine’s neutral status in the event of its accession to the European Union. There are also no clear guarantees regarding the status of the Russian language, which Russia demands.
In addition, Bloomberg writes, Moscow needs clarity regarding hundreds of billions of dollars of Russian assets frozen in the West.
Russia considers the document “a fairly typical Ukrainian plan,” but will study it “with a cool head,” the source added.
