{"id":194944,"date":"2025-12-29T04:27:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T04:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-one-or-two-thorny-issues-remain-after-two-hour-peace-talks-trump-says-sky-news\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T04:27:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T04:27:18","slug":"ukraine-war-latest-one-or-two-thorny-issues-remain-after-two-hour-peace-talks-trump-says-sky-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-one-or-two-thorny-issues-remain-after-two-hour-peace-talks-trump-says-sky-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine war latest: 'One or two thorny issues' remain after two-hour peace talks, Trump says – Sky News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump has expressed optimism at finding a way to end the war in Ukraine after meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Florida. Earlier, Trump said he held a “very productive call” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Follow the latest.
Sunday 28 December 2025 23:55, UK
Thanks for following our live coverage on another busy day as efforts to end the Ukraine war continue.
We’ll be back tomorrow with more updates. Until then, here’s a rundown of what’s been going on today:
Trump hosts Zelenskyy in Mar-a-Lago<\/b>
US President Donald Trump said “a lot of progress” was made during his two-hour talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his delegation in Florida.
But he also said “one or two thorny issues” remain in the peace process, with no clear breakthrough made on territory, identified by Zelenskyy as a major sticking point ahead of the talks.
For his part, Zelenskyy said his meeting with Trump was “wonderful”, adding it produced “significant results” after the two sides discussed “all aspects of the peace framework”.
Our US correspondent Mark Stone<\/a> cast a different light on the day’s developments, pointing out that there’s been little material shift in position from either side after hours of talks…
Watch: Are we any closer to a ceasefire?<\/b>
Trump and Putin enjoy ‘friendly’ call<\/b>
Ahead of Zelenskyy’s arrival in Mar-a-Lago, Washington and Moscow confirmed Trump had spoken with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin said the call had a “friendly tone” and lasted just over an hour, with Trump “listening carefully” to the Russian assessment of the prospects for a peace deal.
Foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said both presidents agreed that Ukraine must make a decision on the future of the Donbas region “without delay” and that a Ukrainian-European push for a ceasefire before a settlement is agreed would “only prolong” the war.
Fighting continues as talks take place<\/b>
Despite the diplomatic push to bring about peace, hostiles continued throughout the weekend.
Moscow launched an intense bombardment of Kyiv on Friday, which Zelenskyy said was evidence that Moscow “doesn’t want peace”.
More missile and drone barrages continued into Sunday, with one man killed in Sloviansk in Ukraine, just hours before Trump welcomed Zelenskyy to Palm Beach.
Elsewhere, Ukraine contested Russian claims that its forces now control the town of Huliapole in the Zaporizhzhia region, while Kyiv confirmed it struck Russia’s Syzran oil refinery in an overnight drone attack.
We’ll soon be pausing our live updates, but here’s what’s next in the peace process for the key players…
We can now bring more readouts from European leaders after their joint call with Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
According to a government spokesperson, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni <\/b>“reiterated the importance of cohesion between partners at a time when the negotiation process is progressing”.
 “Finally, it was agreed that it is up to Russia to demonstrate a sense of responsibility and openness to negotiations, demonstrating a genuine desire to achieve a cessation of hostilities.”<\/i>
A Downing Street spokesperson said Sir Keir Starmer<\/b> also took part in the discussion, which focused on the ongoing efforts to secure peace in Ukraine.
They said European leaders commended Trump for the progress achieved so far during the peace process.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has thanked Donald Trump after the pair’s “wonderful meeting” in Mar-a-Lago today.
“We had a meaningful discussion on all issues and highly appreciate the progress made by the Ukrainian and American teams over the past few weeks,” he says on Telegram.
“We discussed all aspects of the peace framework and achieved significant results. We also discussed the sequence of further actions. 
“We agree that security guarantees are key to achieving lasting peace, and our teams will continue to work on all aspects.”
Zelenskyy says Ukrainian and US teams will meet next week to “finalise all discussed issues” and that Trump has also agreed to host Ukrainian and European leaders in Washington in January.
While Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy were speaking, Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev was providing a running commentary on X.
He was quick to highlight Trump’s comment that “Putin wants Ukraine to succeed”, and shared videos of the US president claiming “a lot of progress” was made during today’s talks.
The head of the European Commission says she welcomes “good progress” made during Ukraine peace talks today.
Ursula von der Leyen said she took part in a “good, one-hour-long call” with Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European leaders today.
“There was good progress, which we welcomed. Europe is ready to keep working with Ukraine and our US partners to consolidate this progress,” she says.
“Paramount to this effort is to have ironclad security guarantees from day one.”
A flurry of updates and talks, but little to show for it.
That’s how US correspondent Mark Stone sums up what we’ve seen so far today in Mar-a-Lago.
“It’s actually quite hard to decipher what’s really going on because, on the face of it, there hasn’t been any progress today,” he says.
“They talked about great progress. Trump certainly did. Zelenskyy, perhaps a little less, but, they don’t appear to have shifted or moved the dial on any of the key issues.”
He adds: “They certainly haven’t gone backwards. That’s in itself positive, but I don’t think there has been any material shift, in position.”
Watch Stone’s full analysis below.<\/b>
Trump is asked about Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which has been under Russian control since the war began.
He says Russian President Vladimir Putin is “working with Ukraine on getting it open.
“He’s been very good in that sense. He wants to see that open.”
“He hasn’t hit it with missiles,” Trump adds.
Zelenskyy is asked about the much-contested Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
He says we “have to respect our law and our people”, as well as the “territory which we control”.
“And of course, our attitude is very clear,” he adds. “That’s why President Trump said this is a very tough question.”
Zelenskyy says Ukraine has “a different position to Russia” on the matter.
Donald Trump is asked whether he would anticipate going to Ukraine if he can find an agreement to end the war.
“We don’t anticipate it,” he says. “We’d like to get the deal done and not necessarily have to go. 
“I’ve offered to go and speak to their parliament. If that would help, I don’t know if that would help. I think it would probably help, but I don’t even know.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy then interjects to tell Trump that he would be welcome in Ukraine if he wants to come.
“I’m not sure that it would be really necessary, but if it would help save 25,000 lives a month or whatever it may be, I would certainly be willing to do that,” Trump responds.
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