Trump signals progress on Ukraine peace deal, but Donbas remains a sticking point
U.S. President Donald Trump said that he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were “getting a lot closer to an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, but the fate of the Donbas region remains a key unresolved issue.
The two leaders spoke at a joint news conference after meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Sunday afternoon. Both leaders reported progress on two of the most contentious issues in peace talks – security guarantees for Ukraine and the Donbas region.
Both Trump and Zelenskiy offered few details and did not provide a deadline for completing a peace deal, although Trump said it will be clear “in a few weeks” whether negotiations to end the war will succeed. He said a few “thorny issues” around territory must be resolved.
Territorial Deadlock
Both Trump and Zelenskiy said on Sunday the future of the Donbas had not been settled, though the U.S. president said discussions are “moving in the right direction.” The United States, seeking a compromise, has proposed a free economic zone if Ukraine leaves the area, although it remains unclear how that zone would function in practical terms.
“It’s unresolved, but it’s getting a lot closer. That’s a very tough issue,” Trump said.
U.S. negotiators have also proposed shared control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Power line repairs have begun there after another local ceasefire brokered by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the agency said on Sunday.
Negotiators, Trump said, have made progress on deciding the fate of the plant, which can “start up almost immediately.” The U.S. president said “it’s a big step” that Russia had not bombed the facility.
Security Guarantees Take Shape
Zelenskiy said an agreement on security guarantees for Ukraine has been reached. Trump was slightly more cautious, saying that they were 95% of the way to such an agreement, and that he expected European countries to “take over a big part” of that effort with U.S. backing.
The leaders, however, did not offer much insight into what agreements they had reached on providing security for Ukraine after the war ends, something Zelenskiy described as “the key milestone in achieving a lasting peace.”
He added that any peace agreement would have to be approved by Ukraine’s parliament, or by a referendum. Trump said he would be willing to speak to parliament if that would secure the deal.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron, in an X post published after Trump met with Zelenskiy, said progress was made on security guarantees. Macron said countries in the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” would meet in Paris in early January to finalise their “concrete contributions.”
“Productive” Trump-Putin Talk
Shortly before Zelenskiy and his delegation arrived at Trump’s Florida residence, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke in a call described as “productive” by the U.S. president and “friendly” by Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov.
Ushakov, in Moscow, said Putin told Trump a 60-day ceasefire proposed by the European Union and Ukraine would prolong the war. The Kremlin aide also said Ukraine needs to make a decision regarding the Donbas “without further delay.”
Trump said he and Putin spoke for more than two hours. He said the Russian president pledged to help rebuild Ukraine, including by supplying cheap energy. “Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed,” Trump said. “It sounds a little strange.”
The Kremlin, moreover, expressed support for Trump’s negotiations.
“The whole world appreciates President Trump and his team’s peace efforts,” Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s special envoy, posted on X early on Monday after Trump’s talks with Zelenskiy.
