Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Florida for talks with Donald Trump about the war in Ukraine. Ahead of their meeting, Trump says he held a “very productive call” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Follow the latest.
Sunday 28 December 2025 18:13, UK
Today will be the third time Donald Trump has hosted Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the US this year. The pair’s previous meetings were in stark contrast to one another.
When Zelenskyy met Trump at the White House in February, temperatures quickly escalated as the Ukrainian received a dressing down from his American counterpart.
Trump warned Zelenskyy that he is “gambling with World War Three” by not starting peace talks with Russia, later posting online that the Ukrainian had “disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office”.
JD Vance also accused Zelenskyy of not showing enough gratitude to Washington for its support of Ukraine.
Watch: How Trump-Zelenskyy talks unravelled
However, the next meeting in August was more cordial, and Zelenskyy launched a charm offensive – donning a dark suit after being criticised for wearing military fatigues on his previous visit.
The Ukrainian president also said thank you eight times during his opening remarks, mostly directed towards Trump.
In return, Trump said the US would give Ukraine good protection” as part of any peace deal. Zelenskyy later said a $90bn (£67bn) arms deal had been agreed between the two countries.
Here are the latest images from Mar-a-Lago ahead of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s arrival.
Security has been boosted significantly for the hastily-arranged meeting between Zelenskyy and Donald Trump.
You can watch the latest images from Palm Beach in the stream at the top of this page.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone for an hour and 15 minutes, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov has told reporters.
He said that the call – which had a “friendly tone” and included an exchange of “Christmas greetings” – was initiated by the US, as Trump wanted to discuss the Ukraine conflict before the meeting with Zelenskyy.
Ushakov said Trump “listened carefully” to Russia’s assessment of the prospects for a Ukraine peace deal, adding that both Putin and Trump think Kyiv must make a decision on the future of the Donbas region “without delay”.
The two leaders also reportedly agreed that a Ukrainian-European push for a ceasefire before a settlement is agreed would “only prolong” the war.
“The main thing is that the Presidents of the United States and Russia generally hold similar views that the temporary ceasefire option proposed by the Ukrainians and Europeans, under the pretext of preparing for a referendum or other pretexts, will only prolong the conflict and risk a resumption of hostilities.”
Yuri Ushakov, via NBC
According to Ushakov, Trump and Putin will hold another call tonight after the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting.
We now have a readout of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call with Sir Keir Starmer.
A Downing Street spokesperson said the PM reaffirmed the UK’s “unwavering support for Ukraine and its commitment to achieving a just and lasting peace”.
“They condemned Russia’s brutal and illegal invasion, as well as the recent attack on Kyiv.
“Both leaders welcomed ongoing diplomatic efforts and commended President Trump’s continued engagement in securing peace”.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is arriving at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home hoping to “hammer out” the final difficult parts of a Ukraine peace deal, US correspondent Mark Stone says.
He says today’s Florida meeting is “clearly something that Zelenskyy wanted to happen”, despite being put together “at the last minute”.
“He has said on a number of occasions now that 90% of the deal is done, that he believes agreement is there on 90% of it, but that last 10% has to be done at leader level,” Stone says.
“And so he wants to be here to look Donald Trump in the eyeballs and to hammer out those last difficult bits of this deal.”
Stone explains what those final details entail in his preview below…
We’ve now had confirmation from Russia of today’s phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for the Russian leader, confirmed to state news agencies that the call took place, without providing further details.
Earlier, Trump described the call as “good and very productive”.
Donald Trump says he’s just had a “good and very productive telephone call” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The US leader announced the call on his Truth Social platform without giving further details.
As a reminder, Trump is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later today in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
Supporters of Donald Trump are making their presence known in Mar-a-Lago ahead of the US president’s meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Our US correspondent Mark Stone has shared these images with us, showing one man holding a sign that reads: “We love ‘daddy’ Trump.”
Another image shows a flag honouring the late political activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated at a public speaking event in Utah in September.
By Mark Stone, US correspondent in Florida
I have just landed in Palm Beach ahead of this key meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
There is an incongruous vibe here at an airport packed with holidaymakers in search of Floridian sun.
On the tarmac is Zelenskyy’s plane. Down the road, 20 minutes or so, is Mar-a-Lago, where the meeting will take place in a few hours.
President Trump’s ‘winter White House’ is the venue for this latest meeting with President Zelenskyy.
It’s hard to gauge how it will go. It’s probable that it will not represent the breakthrough moment – how is that possible without Russia cooperating?
But make no mistake – set back in the grounds of Mar-a-Lago, beyond the Floridian holidaymakers, Ukraine’s destiny, and perhaps Europe’s, will be moulded today.
Russia’s defence ministry has released aerial footage claiming to show forces dressed as Santa in Ukraine.
The ministry said the footage was from the Ukrainian town of Dimitrov in Donetsk, which it claims has been “liberated”.
Sky News has not verified the footage or the Russian claims surrounding the control of Dimitrov.
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