PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters) — US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were “getting a lot closer, maybe very close” to an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, while acknowledging that the fate of the disputed 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 division of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region that Russia has sought to capture.
Both Trump and Zelensky offered few details and did not provide a deadline for completing a peace deal, although Trump said it would be clear “in a few weeks” whether negotiations to end the war would succeed. He said a few “thorny issues” around territory must be resolved.
Zelensky 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 US backing.
French President Emmanuel Macron, in an X post published after Trump met with Zelensky, 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 finaliזe their “concrete contributions.”
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Zelensky has said previously that he hopes to soften a US proposal for Ukrainian forces to withdraw completely from Donbas, a Russian demand that would mean ceding some territory held by Ukrainian forces. While Moscow insists on getting all of Donbas, Kyiv wants the map frozen at the current battle lines.
US President Donald Trump and Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky shake hands during a press conference following talks at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 28, 2025. (Jim WATSON / AFP)
Both Trump and Zelensky said on Sunday the future of the Donbas had not been settled, though the US 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.
Nor did the leaders offer much insight into what agreements they had reached on providing security for Ukraine after the war ends, something Zelensky described Sunday as “the key milestone in achieving a lasting peace.”
Zelensky said 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.
Trump and Putin speak before Zelensky meeting
Shortly before Zelensky and his delegation arrived at Trump’s Florida residence, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke in a call described as “productive” by the US 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.”
This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on December 28, 2025 shows US President Donald Trump (5th R) meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (4th L) for critical talks on ending the war with Russia at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. (Handout / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE / AFP)
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.”
As Trump praised Putin, Zelensky tilted his head and smiled. Trump said he would call Putin again following the meeting with Zelensky.
The Kremlin 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 Zelensky.
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via videolink in Moscow on December 26, 2025. (Mikhail METZEL / POOL / AFP)
Nuclear plant discussed
US 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 US president said “it’s a big step” that Russia had not bombed the facility.
Russia controls all of Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, and since its invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago has taken control of about 12% of its territory, including about 90% of the Donbas, 75% of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and slivers of the Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, according to Russian estimates.
The day before Zelensky arrived in Florida to meet with Trump, Russian forces attacked Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine with hundreds of missiles and drones, knocking out power and heat in parts of the Ukrainian capital. Zelensky has described the weekend attacks as Russia’s response to the US-brokered peace efforts, but Trump on Sunday said he believes Putin and Zelensky are serious about peace.
US President Donald Trump welcomes Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 28, 2025. (Jim WATSON / AFP)
After Saturday’s air attacks, Putin said Moscow would continue waging its war if Kyiv did not seek a quick peace. Russia has steadily advanced on the battlefield in recent months, claiming control over several more settlements on Sunday.
European heads of state joined at least part of Sunday’s meeting by phone. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on social media site X that “Europe is ready to keep working with Ukraine and our US partners,” and added that having ironclad security guarantees will be of “paramount” importance.
A spokesman for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said European leaders “underlined the importance of robust security guarantees and reaffirmed the urgency of ending this barbaric war as soon as possible.”
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