Zelensky to meet Trump in Florida as talks intensify on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed plans to meet US President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday, as diplomatic efforts accelerate to bring Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine to an end.
Zelensky said discussions would centre on a US-brokered peace framework and separate proposals for American security guarantees. However, a senior Russian official indicated that the plan under discussion differs sharply from the version Moscow has been negotiating with Washington.
The Kremlin has yet to respond publicly to Zelensky’s suggestion that Ukrainian forces could withdraw from parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region if Russia agreed to pull back its own troops.
Fighting continues despite diplomacy
Even as talks progress, the war shows no sign of abating. Late on Saturday, Russian air strikes injured at least one person in the Kyiv region, according to local officials. Explosions were also reported in the capital. Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said air defence systems were active and urged residents to seek shelter.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and currently controls around 75 percent of Donetsk and almost all of neighbouring Luhansk. Together, the two regions make up the Donbas.
Ukraine has repeatedly stressed the need for firm US security guarantees as part of any settlement. Zelensky has floated the idea of a demilitarised free economic zone in areas of Donbas that Russian forces have failed to capture.
On Friday, he told reporters that a proposed 20-point peace plan was close to completion. “Our task is to make sure everything is 100 percent ready,” he said, adding on social media that a high-level meeting with Trump had been agreed and that “a lot can be decided before the new year”.
Trump signals control over final outcome
In an interview with Politico published on Friday, Trump struck a more assertive tone, saying Zelensky “doesn’t have anything until I approve it”. He added that he expected talks to go well not only with the Ukrainian leader but also with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he said he would speak to soon.
Trump also revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to visit him in the coming days.
Senior Russian officials have continued phone discussions with US counterparts, following a recent Florida visit by Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov described recent developments as encouraging, but accused Ukraine of trying to undermine negotiations.
He told Russian state television that December 25, 2025, could be remembered as a moment when a solution seemed close, but warned that final agreement would depend on political will on all sides.
Fresh casualties and past tensions
Shortly after news of Zelensky’s impending Florida visit emerged, officials in Kharkiv said two people had been killed and several wounded in a Russian strike on the north-eastern city.
Zelensky and Trump have met several times this year. Their first encounter at the White House in February ended in a heated exchange, but a subsequent meeting in October was described as far more constructive.
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Confirmation of Sunday’s talks followed a Christmas Day phone call between Zelensky and Trump’s chief negotiators, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Zelensky said the hour-long discussion produced “new ideas” and called it a “really good conversation”.
Key sticking points remain
The White House has proposed creating a demilitarised zone in eastern Ukraine, with both sides agreeing not to deploy troops there. The idea would sidestep the contentious issue of legal sovereignty over occupied territory.
Zelensky indicated this week that Ukraine could pull back up to 40km from the eastern front line to form an economic zone, provided Russia matched the move in occupied areas of Donbas.
Kyiv has secured revisions to an earlier 28-point draft prepared by Witkoff, which critics said favoured Moscow. Talks in Florida are expected to focus on multiple documents, including US security guarantees and a separate economic agreement.
Territory remains the most difficult issue, alongside the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, which is currently under Russian control. One US proposal suggests sharing the plant’s energy output between Ukraine and Russia.
Moscow is unlikely to accept several elements of the revised plan, particularly territorial provisions. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Western European states of trying to derail diplomatic progress.
Putin has repeatedly insisted that Ukraine withdraw fully from Donbas or face its complete seizure, rejecting compromise. The latest proposals, outlined by Zelensky this week for the first time since the draft leaked in November, would commit the US and Europe to security guarantees modelled on Nato’s Article 5. They would also maintain Ukraine’s armed forces at around 800,000 personnel, a level Russia has demanded be reduced.
As Zelensky heads to Florida, hopes of progress remain tempered by ongoing violence and deep divisions over land, security and sovereignty.
