{"id":375014,"date":"2025-12-29T00:33:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T00:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/375014\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T00:33:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T00:33:10","slug":"trump-zelenskyy-optimistic-on-a-ukraine-russia-peace-deal-despite-thorny-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/375014\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump, Zelenskyy optimistic on a Ukraine-Russia peace deal despite ‘thorny issues’"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump<\/a> and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated after a face-to-face meeting Sunday that they are close to a potential peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine <\/a>but did not announce any major breakthroughs.<\/p>\n

During a news conference following their sit-down at Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida, Trump and Zelenskyy struck an optimistic tone while acknowledging that challenges remain.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can say 95%, but I don\u2019t like to say percentages. I just think we\u2019re doing very well,\u201d Trump said. \u201cThere are one or two very thorny issues, very tough issues, but I think we\u2019re doing very well. We made a lot of progress today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy echoed the sentiments.<\/p>\n

“We had a really great discussion,” he told reporters. “We discussed all the aspects of the peace framework.”<\/p>\n

He added that the deal as a whole was 90% agreed to, saying U.S., Europe and Ukraine security guarantees are \u201calmost agreed.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for a timeline to finalize a potential deal, Trump said the best-case scenario is in \u201ca few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

“I think we\u2019ll get it done,” he said. “I don\u2019t want to say when, but I think we\u2019ll get it done.”<\/p>\n

Trump noted that he and Zelenskyy spoke with European leaders after their meeting at Mar-a-Lago.<\/p>\n

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen posted on X<\/a> that several European leaders had a “good, one-hour long call” with them.<\/p>\n

“There was good progress, which we welcomed,” von der Leyen wrote. “Europe is ready to keep working with Ukraine and our US partners to consolidate this progress.”<\/p>\n

She added that paramount to the deal would be “ironclad security guarantees from day one.”<\/p>\n

Asked by reporters what the “thorniest issues” are, Trump said it was “the land,” referring to the Donbas region, which Russia has demanded Ukraine cede.<\/p>\n

“I think the land you’re talking about, some of that land has been taken. Some of that land is maybe up for grabs,” he said.<\/p>\n

The U.S. offered this month to create<\/a> a “free economic zone” if Ukraine ceded the region, but Zelenskyy said at the time that there wasn’t a common understanding about the issue.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, after having spoken with Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump said Russia would help with reconstructing Ukraine as part of a peace deal.<\/p>\n

“They’re going to be helping. Russia is going to be helping. Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed,” he said. “President Putin was very generous in his feeling toward Ukraine succeeding, including supplying energy, electricity and other things at very low prices.”<\/p>\n

The meeting was the fourth<\/a> between Zelenskyy and Trump this year. Talks to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, which began in 2022, have been going on since shortly after Trump returned to office, with a February meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump at the White House ending in a tense confrontation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On the campaign trail last year, Trump repeatedly said he could end the war “on day one” or perhaps even before he started his second term. He later said that those remarks were “an exaggeration<\/a>” and that he said them “figuratively,” “to make a point.”<\/p>\n

Trump on Sunday characterized the Russia-Ukraine war as “a very complex one,” calling negotiations to end the conflict “very difficult” and “very detailed.”<\/p>\n

Sunday’s meeting comes just over a day after Russia launched a massive missile attack on Ukraine\u2019s capital<\/a>, killing at least one person and injuring at least 20 other people, according to Kyiv\u2019s mayor.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy said Saturday on X<\/a> that the Russian attack involved almost 500 drones and 40 missiles aimed at Kyiv.<\/p>\n

Following a meeting Saturday with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on his way to Florida, Zelenskyy said \u201csufficient pressure\u201d should be placed on Russia after this weekend\u2019s attacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cRussia continues to mock our cities and people. Moscow has rejected even the proposals for a Christmas ceasefire and is increasing the ferocity of its missile and drone strikes. This is a clear signal of how they really feel about diplomacy,\u201d he wrote on Telegram<\/a>. \u201cSo far, it has not been taken seriously enough. Therefore, Ukraine needs sufficient support. And sufficient pressure needs to be put on Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hours before his meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump said on Truth Social<\/a> that he spoke with Putin on Sunday morning in what he characterized as a \u201cgood and very productive telephone call.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump told reporters Sunday at Mar-a-Lago that his message to Putin was that the two sides \u201cgotta make a deal. Gotta get it done. Too many people died, and I think both presidents want to make a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that he plans to speak with Putin again after the meeting with Zelenskyy.<\/p>\n

Yuri Ushakov, Putin\u2019s foreign policy aide, told reporters after that call that the call had been initiated by Trump and lasted for over an hour.<\/p>\n

Ushakov added that the two presidents spoke about a potential ceasefire, agreeing that a temporary ceasefire \u201cwill only prolong the conflict and risk a resumption of hostilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a WhatsApp chat with journalists Friday, Zelenskyy outlined his agenda for the Mar-a-Lago meeting, which he said would include discussing security guarantees he hopes the U.S. can promise Ukraine to dissuade Russia from ever invading again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to discuss several nuances regarding security guarantees,\u201d Zelenskyy said, adding that there are already \u201cseveral\u201d drafted agreements for security guarantees in place among Ukraine, the U.S. and European allies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still need to discuss them again. And, as I said, changes are being made daily to all these documents by our negotiating teams,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy told reporters Saturday in a new WhatsApp chat that any negotiations over security guarantees depend on Trump\u2019s buy-in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis primarily depends on President Trump. The question is what security guarantees President Trump is ready to provide to Ukraine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, as he was greeting Zelenskyy at Mar-a-Lago, Trump told reporters, \u201cThere will be a security agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be a strong agreement. The European nations are very much involved, and they\u2019ll be very much involved in protection, etc., but the European nations have been really great. They\u2019re very much in line with this meeting and getting a deal done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy had said in the WhatsApp chat with journalists that a 20-point peace plan they had been working on was \u201c90% ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump said on Truth Social<\/a> in late November that he would be open to meeting with Zelenskyy or Putin, \u201cONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. officials met separately with Russian envoys and Ukrainian and European officials in Florida for peace talks this month. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff summarized the gatherings with Ukrainian officials in a post on X<\/a> as \u201ca series of productive and constructive meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUkraine remains fully committed to achieving a just and sustainable peace,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

In a separate post, Witkoff characterized meetings with Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev<\/a> as \u201cproductive and constructive.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the sticking points in the ongoing peace talks is territory, with Russia wanting to keep the Ukrainian land it has seized in the war and Ukraine refusing to give up the contested territories.<\/p>\n

But Zelenskyy has expressed some openness to compromise in recent weeks. He told reporters last week that he <\/a>would be willing to withdraw forces from the country\u2019s eastern industrial heartland if the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces and Russia also pulls out.<\/p>\n

A Trump ally, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., expressed skepticism last week that Russia would accept a peace deal with robust security guarantees for Ukraine, telling NBC News\u2019 \u201cMeet the Press,\u201d \u201cWe keep engaging Russia, we keep trying to lure Putin to the peace table, and he rebuffs all of our efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Putin has promised to continue his military campaign<\/a> in Ukraine if peace talks fail, and he told NBC News<\/a> at a media event this month that \u201cthe ball is entirely in the court\u201d of Ukraine and its Western allies in peace talks.<\/p>\n

He also blamed Ukraine for starting the war, which began when Russia invaded it nearly four years ago. \u201cWe do not consider ourselves responsible for the loss of life, because it was not us who started this war,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Putin continued his attacks on Ukrainian leadership, saying as he was visiting a military outpost, \u201cThe ringleaders of the Kyiv regime are in no hurry today to solve this conflict peacefully.\u201d<\/p>\n

Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Putin in Moscow<\/a> this month for a five-hour meeting that yielded no compromise.<\/p>\n

That came weeks after the Trump administration set off a firestorm by revealing a proposed peace plan<\/a> that Ukrainian leaders, European allies and U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle<\/a> criticized, saying it was too favorable to Russia.<\/p>\n

Trump and Zelenskyy have met several times in the past year, most notably in February<\/a>, when a televised meeting between the two leaders and Vice President JD Vance devolved into a shouting match.<\/p>\n

Trump then met with Putin in Alaska<\/a> in August.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated after a face-to-face meeting Sunday that they are close…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,451,3,452,453],"class_list":{"0":"post-375014","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking-news","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}