Trump meets Zelenskyy, says talks in ‘final stages’ – DW – 12/28/2025

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy meets US President Trump at Mar-a-Lago to discuss ending the war with Russia. Analyst Rachel Rizzo of Observer Research Foundation breaks down what’s on the table and the biggest hurdles to peace.

US President Donald Trump said that diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine were close to a breakthrough.

He made the comments while meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in the southeastern US state of Florida.

“I think we’re in [the] final stages of talking, and we’re going to see. Otherwise it’s going to go on for a long time,” Trump said, adding he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin was “very serious” about ending the war.

“Both presidents want to make a deal,” Trump said, referring to Zelenskyy and Putin.

He stressed, however, that there was no “deadline” for the process.

Trump added that he would call Putin following his meeting with Zelenskyy after having already called the Russian president earlier on Sunday.

‘Strong agreement’ for Ukraine security guarantees

The US president asserted that there would be a “strong agreement” to provide security guarantees to Ukraine involving the participation of European countries.

Security guarantees have been among the major stumbling blocks in negotiations, with Kyiv demanding them as a condition to any peace deal and with Russia rejecting any stationing of troops from NATO countries in Ukraine.

Previous rounds of talks, including a meeting between Trump and Putin in Anchorage, Alaska in mid-August, have seemingly produced little measurable progress toward bringing about a cessation of hostilities.

US President Donald Trump and Russia President Vladimiar Putin “share the same view” on the current position held by Ukraine and the European Union on ending the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin’s diplomatic advisor, Yuri Ushakov, said.

Ukraine and its European allies have called for a ceasefire as part of ongoing peace negotiations. Russia has rejected the idea, saying it would only allow Kyiv to regroup.

In comments to journalists on Sunday, Ushakov said that Moscow and Washington shared the same assessment on any temporary cessation of hostilities.

“Russia and the United States share the same position which is that the Ukrainian and European proposal for a temporary ceasefire (…) would only prolong the conflict and lead to a resumption of hostilities,” he said.

He also said that the Kremlin considered that Ukraine needed to make a decision regarding the eastern Donbass region “without delay, taking into account the evolving situation on the frontlines.”

Russia has called for Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the Donbas, which is in turn made up of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, as a condition for any peace deal. Russian forces already control the vast majority of the Luhansk region and some three-fourths of the Donetsk region.

Earlier on Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized European governments as the “main obstacle” to peace.

Russian forces have intensified their offensive in eastern Ukraine in recent days, which Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and European leaders argue indicates that Moscow is not serious about peace negotiations.

US President Donald Trump held a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of his meeting with Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“I just had a very good and productive telephone call with President Putin of Russia,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

Zelenskyy is expected at Trump’s Florida estate at 1:00 local time (19:00 CET).

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he held a conversation with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the phone ahead of his meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Zelenskyy took to X to say he “informed” Starmer on the situation on the frontline in the country’s war with Russia and the consequences of Russia’s large-scale strikes from the few nights.

The Ukrainian army said that only part of the southeastern town of Huliaipole in the Donetsk region was under Russian control.

This contradicts an earlier statement by Russia that the city had been taken by Moscow.

Ukraine’s southern command said in a statement that the situation in the city is “very difficult,” but that Russia does not have full control over the town.

According to the statement, fighting is also ongoing in Stepnohirsk in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia. Moscow also claimed to have taken control of the settlement.

Besides Huliaipole and Stepnohirsk, Russia’s Defense Ministry said earlier on Sunday that its forces had taken the towns of Myrnohrad, ‌Artemivka, Rodynske and ‌Vilne in the Donetsk region.

The battlefield reports could not be independently verified.

Speaking ahead of his talks with President Donald Trump, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on his official Telegram channel that he was doing everything he could to end the war, but that in the end success depended on Kyiv’s partners as well.

“These ‌are some of the ‌most ⁠active diplomatic days of the year, and much can ‍be resolved before the ​New ​Year, and we are doing everything for this, but whether there will be decisions depends on the partners,” he ‍wrote.

Zelenskyy added that allies needed to put even more pressure on Moscow, “so ‌that ‌the Russians feel the consequences of their own aggression”.

The major topic of discussion between Trump and Zelenskyy will be the latter’s 20-point ceasefire plan. Working off of an original 28-point list drawn up by the Trump administration, Zelenskyy hopes his version will provide a framework for a future truce with Russia.

Here are some of the main points:

• Ukraine’s sovereignty will be reaffirmed.
• There will be a condition of absolute non-aggression between Ukraine and Russia.
• Ukraine will maintain its military at its present strength of 800,000 — the original proposal by Trump called for Kyiv to reduce the size of its armed forces.
• Ukraine will continue on the path to EU membership.
• The US and NATO will provide security guarantees for Ukraine.
• Ukraine will receive aid to rebuild the areas destroyed by Russian shelling.
• The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant will be administered by the US and Ukraine, not Moscow.
• Territorial changes will be halted at current battle lines — this is a major sticking point, with Russia insisting that Ukraine cede all of Donbas.
• All prisoners of war will be exchanged.
• Russia will not restrict Ukrainian access to the Dnipro river.

The plan also calls for elections in Ukraine as soon as the war is over. Elections had been due in 2024, but were suspended due to the ongoing conflict.

Ukraine’s largest private energy provider says power has been restored to more than one million households in and around Kyiv.

The statement comes a day after Russian missile and drone strikes forced emergency outages across the region.

The attack early Saturday killed two people and knocked out electricity in large parts of the capital and surrounding areas.

DTEK reports 748,000 homes in Kyiv and 347,000 outside the city now have power again.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said that crucial repairs were underway at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, thanking both sides for a temporary pause in fighting to allow the crucial work to be carried out.

The site has been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in the conflict, prompting sporadic fears of a major nuclear disaster. Once a major supplier of Ukraine’s energy needs, the plant has been under Russian control since 2022 and is mostly shut down.

Zaporizhzhia’s equipment is powered by electricity supplied from Ukraine.

Over the past four years these supplies have been interrupted at least eleven times due to breaks in power lines, forcing the plant to switch to emergency diesel generators.

Emergency generators on site can supply electricity to keep the reactors cool if external power lines are cut.

Russian Foreign Minister  Sergey Lavrovsaid that any European troops sent to Ukraine as peacekeeping forces would be a “legimate” target for his country’s military.

In comments carried by official news agency TASS, Lavrov accused European leaders of having “ambitions” for Ukraine that disregarded the will of its people. He did not specify what he meant or provide evidence for these claims.
 

What have the leaders of the US, Ukraine, Russia, and Europe said ahead of the talks? What are the sticking points of the peace plan? Read more here: Trump-Zelenkskyy meeting: What you need to know

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that it was Kyiv who wasn’t seeking a peaceful resolution to the conflict, despite continuing Russian attacks on the towns of Myrnohrad, Rodynske and Artemivka in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk,
as well as Huliaipole and Stepnohirsk in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Ukraine rejected this claim, as well as assertions from Moscow that the towns of Myrnohrad and Huliaipole had been completely captured by Russian forces.

The Ukrainian military said that the situation in these regions is “difficult” but “defensive operations” are still ongoing.

“A substantial part of Huliaipole continues to be held by the Defense Forces ⁠of Ukraine,” the Southern ​Command of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Telegram, reporting “fierce fighting” in the town.

Good morning from the DW newsroom in Bonn.

Today, everyone is looking towards Florida where US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyywill be meeting to discuss a major diplomatic push to end the war nearly four years after Russia’s invasion began.

At the same time, fierce fighting continued in eastern Ukraine. Kyiv has denied Russian claims that it has fully captured the towns of Huliaipole and Myrnohrad.