{"id":194956,"date":"2025-12-29T07:26:40","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T07:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-says-ukraine-peace-deal-closer-than-ever-after-meeting-with-zelenskyy-in-florida-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T07:26:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T07:26:40","slug":"trump-says-ukraine-peace-deal-closer-than-ever-after-meeting-with-zelenskyy-in-florida-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-says-ukraine-peace-deal-closer-than-ever-after-meeting-with-zelenskyy-in-florida-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump says Ukraine peace deal \u2018closer than ever\u2019 after meeting with Zelenskyy in Florida – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

US president said \u2018thorny\u2019 questions over territory have yet to be resolved and expressed sympathy with Russia not wanting a ceasefire
Donald Trump has said a deal to end the war in Ukraine is \u201ccloser than ever\u201d but has admitted that \u201cthorny\u201d questions over the future of the eastern Donbas region have yet to be resolved, after a two-hour meeting on Sunday with Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/a> in Florida.
Trump said a draft agreement to end the war was nearly \u201c95% done\u201d. \u201cI really think we are closer than ever with both sides,\u201d he said, adding that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin<\/a>, also wants to \u201csee it happen\u201d.
The US president acknowledged there were \u201cone or two tough\u201d outstanding issues, over territory and how the war might end and expressed sympathy with Russia not wanting a ceasefire. \u201cYou have to understand the other side,\u201d he said.
He also offered to travel to Kyiv to address Ukraine\u2019s parliament ahead of a possible vote on a peace plan, saying he thought this would probably not be necessary. \u201cYou are welcome always,\u201d Zelenskyy interjected.
Zelenskyy repeatedly thanked Trump and paid tribute to his US team, including the president\u2019s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner<\/a>.
Despite the positive optics, there were few signs that a genuine agreement was imminent. When asked about the status of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station \u2013 occupied since the start of Russia\u2019s 2022 full-scale invasion \u2013 Trump gave a confused answer and said Putin was no longer bombing it.
The meeting took place just hours after Trump held a lengthy phone call with Russia\u2019s president.
\u201cThe two leaders want it to end,\u201d Trump said, adding: \u201cI think we can move pretty rapidly. Otherwise it\u2019s going to go on for a very long time.\u201d Trump praised Zelenskyy, saying: \u201cThis gentleman has worked very hard, and is very brave, and his people are very brave.\u201d
He added: \u201cI do think we have the makings of a deal. We have two willing countries. We are in the final stages of talking.\u201d
Speaking to reporters, the two leaders discussed the latest iteration of a 20-point peace plan<\/a> and the unresolved question of the future of Ukraine\u2019s eastern Donbas region. Standing next to Trump, Zelenskyy said US and Ukrainian negotiators had made good progress in recent weeks with \u201c90%\u201d of the draft agreed.
Writing on Truth Social<\/a> before the meeting, Trump described his one-hour-15-minute call with Putin as \u201cgood and very productive\u201d. Asked if Putin was serious about peace, Trump replied: \u201cI think he is.\u201d
There were no signs, however, that Russia was willing to drop any of its maximalist demands. According to Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov, Trump \u201clistened carefully\u201d on Sunday to Russia\u2019s assessment of the conflict. Both sides agreed that a ceasefire proposed by Ukraine and Europe<\/a> would only prolong the fighting \u201cand is fraught with renewed hostilities\u201d, Ushakov said.
Trump greeted Zelenskyy on the steps of his residence and offered him a businesslike handshake. There was no hug. US officials did not meet Zelenskyy when he arrived at Palm Beach international airport, in contrast to the red carpet reception given to Putin by an applauding Trump<\/a> at their summit in August in Alaska.
One former Ukrainian diplomat, Maria Drutska, said Putin was trying to \u201csabotage things\u201d<\/a> by ringing Trump before he saw Zelenskyy. During their previous meeting in October in the White House, Trump rowed back on the delivery of long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine after a similar call to Moscow.
Putin wants Ukraine to hand over territory in the north of Donetsk oblast that his forces have been unable to capture. Zelenskyy\u2019s counter-proposal envisages a demilitarised zone, with both sides withdrawing from the line of contact. The plan could be put to a referendum, providing Moscow first agrees to a ceasefire lasting from 60 to 90 days.
But fundamental problems remain, including the issue of security guarantees to prevent Russia from attacking again. Trump has made no military commitment to defend Ukraine. The original 28-point US plan was presented in November after talks with Russia and in effect demanded Ukraine\u2019s capitulation<\/a>.
Speaking alongside Canada\u2019s prime minister, Mark Carney, on Saturday in the wake of another large-scale air attack on Kyiv by Russia, Zelenskyy described the onslaught as \u201cRussia\u2019s answer to our peace efforts\u201d. The Ukrainian president said to Carney: \u201cWe need two things, pressure on Russia and sufficient strong support for Ukraine.\u201d
Ukraine\u2019s capital was hit by more than 500 drones and ballistic missiles across Friday night and Saturday. The 12-hour attack killed four people and left half a million without power. Carney called the bombardment \u201cbarbaric\u201d. A \u201cwilling Russia\u201d was necessary to create conditions for a just and lasting peace, he said.
Trump declined to condemn the latest strikes on Kyiv and did not acknowledge that Russia \u2013 unlike, in his view, Ukraine \u2013 had deliberately targeted civilians. \u201cI believe Ukraine has made some very strong attacks also. I don\u2019t say that negatively. You probably have to,\u201d he said, speaking outside his estate.
Sunday\u2019s Mar-a-Lago talks were a moment of high risk for Zelenskyy. In a recent interview<\/a> with the Guardian, Ukraine\u2019s leader said he \u201cwasn\u2019t afraid\u201d of the mercurial US president because both of them had a democratic mandate.
In February, Trump and the US vice-president, JD Vance<\/a>, berated Zelenskyy in a bruising session at the White House. Subsequent meetings have gone better, including at the Vatican in April, and at the White House in October, when Zelenskyy was flanked by European leaders including Keir Starmer.
Ukrainian officials have worked hard to repair relations with a Russia-leaning White House, while coordinating closely with European allies.
Zelenskyy said he called Starmer on Sunday, informing him about the frontline situation and the consequences of Russian strikes. Trump said European leaders would join Sunday\u2019s talks through a video conference link from Mar-a-Lago.
The Ukrainian delegation included Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine\u2019s national security and defence council, the first deputy foreign minister, Sergiy Kyslytsya, and Ukraine\u2019s new ambassador to Washington, Olha Stefanishyna. Witkoff and Kushner joined from the US side, as well as the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, Susie Wiles, the president\u2019s chief of staff, and Gen Dan Caine, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff.
Zelenskyy described the meeting with Trump as a bilateral mostly focused on US-Ukraine issues. Key topics include security guarantees from the US and Europe, the military situation and the sequence for implementing agreements.
On Sunday, Russia\u2019s defence ministry said its forces had seized five settlements in eastern and southern Ukraine, including Myrnohrad near the eastern city of Pokrovsk and Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region. The announcement before the Florida talks appeared designed to send a message to Trump that Russia\u2019s victory in Donbas is inevitable.
Russian forces have been advancing but they have also suffered setbacks. In recent weeks Ukraine\u2019s defence forces have clawed back control over much of the city of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, after its infiltration by small groups of Russian infantry. Ukraine dismissed Moscow\u2019s latest claims and said its defences were holding.
Its military said it hit the Syzran oil refinery in Russia\u2019s Samara region in an overnight drone attack. The damage was still being assessed, it added. Three civilians were wounded after Russian drone and missile attacks in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine\u2019s national police said.
With Trump unwilling to pressure Russia, observers expect the nearly four-year-old full-scale war to continue. \u201cThe fundamental flaw in the current diplomatic push is the absence of the aggressor at the negotiating table,\u201d Yuriy Boyechko, the founder of the charity Hope for Ukraine, said.
He added: \u201cPeace is not achieved by one side agreeing to terms with a third party; it requires the principal belligerent, Vladimir Putin, to commit to a ceasefire and withdrawal. As long as Russia is actively launching its heaviest attacks in months, it is signalling that it has no intention of honouring a deal it did not sign.\u201d<\/p>\n

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US president said \u2018thorny\u2019 questions over territory have yet to be resolved and expressed sympathy with Russia not wanting a ceasefireDonald Trump has said a deal to end the war in Ukraine is \u201ccloser than ever\u201d but has admitted that \u201cthorny\u201d questions over the future of the eastern Donbas region have yet to be resolved, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":194957,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-194956","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}