But in a WhatsApp chat with reporters as he returned to Europe on Monday, Zelenskyy<\/a> said a US security guarantee currently under discussion would initially be valid for 15 years, and while this could potentially be extended, such a duration would be too short.<\/p>\n \u201cI told [Trump] we would really like to consider the possibility of a 30, 40, 50 years [guarantee]\u201d the Ukrainian president said, adding that Trump \u201csaid he would think about it\u201d.<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s meeting, which came a day after a major missile and drone attack<\/a> by Russia on Kyiv, was the culmination of intense diplomacy to halt the biggest land war in Europe in eight decades. <\/p>\n While Trump and Zelenskyy praised each other at a press conference after their discussions, they yielded little tangible progress. <\/p>\n Zelenskyy said he and Trump discussed \u201call aspects\u201d of a 20-point peace plan<\/a> and that they were \u201c90 per cent\u201d of the way towards reaching a deal.<\/p>\n The Ukrainian president added that the military aspects of the proposal were \u201c100 per cent agreed\u201d, but did not provide specific details. <\/p>\n Both men subsequently spoke to European leaders, including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Trump added.<\/p>\n European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the \u201cgood progress\u201d made during the talks, adding that \u201cparamount to this effort is to have ironclad security guarantees from day one\u201d. <\/p>\n The US president said he had held a \u201cgood and very productive\u201d telephone call lasting more than two hours with Russian President Vladimir Putin prior to his meeting with Zelenskyy.<\/p>\n Following the Ukraine-US meeting, Trump lauded Putin, saying the Russian president \u201cwants to see Ukraine succeed\u201d.<\/p>\n Trump cautioned that there were still \u201cthorny\u201d issues remaining in reaching a peace agreement, saying \u201cthe word agreed is too strong, but we are getting closer\u201d. He specifically cited disagreements over \u201cland\u201d, an allusion to the deep schism between Moscow and Kyiv over possible territorial concessions.<\/p>\n Putin has stuck to his maximalist demands, including that Ukraine unilaterally withdraw from the remaining part of the eastern Donbas region still under Kyiv\u2019s control. Trump\u2019s original plan \u2014 drawn up with Russia\u2019s help \u2014 called for that area to be recognised officially as Russian territory \u2014 something that Zelenskyy has described as a red line.<\/p>\n Trump said on Sunday that the issue surrounding a possible \u201cdemilitarised zone\u201d, or \u201ceconomic zone\u201d as Zelenskyy has referred to it in recent weeks, in the Donbas region remained \u201cunresolved\u201d.<\/p>\n Zelenskyy has said he would agree to pull back troops to create an economic zone if Russia\u2019s forces did the same and the territory remained officially part of Ukraine and was monitored by an international peace force. <\/p>\n He agreed it was a \u201ctough issue\u201d and said any territorial concessions would require a referendum in Ukraine. <\/p>\n \u201cOf course, our society has to choose and it has to vote, because it\u2019s their land, not the land of one person, it\u2019s the land of our nation,\u201d Zelenskyy said.<\/p>\n Asked about what specifically the US had offered Ukraine in the way of security guarantees, a crucial element for Kyiv in agreeing to a deal, Trump said he wanted to \u201cwork with Europe\u201d, which would \u201ctake over a big part of it\u201d. <\/p>\n Trump added that Putin was open to working with Kyiv on the contentious issue of who would control Zaporizhzhia power station \u2014 Europe\u2019s biggest nuclear plant \u2014 under a peace deal. Russian forces at present control the power plant in south-eastern Ukraine. <\/p>\n \u201cWe discussed it, it\u2019s in good shape and can start up immediately. Putin is working with Ukraine to get it open,\u201d Trump said. \u201cThat\u2019s a big step, when he\u2019s not bombing that plant.\u201d<\/p>\n Recommended<\/p>\n![\"Donald](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/31f13166-3a4f-4a0a-a15a-1e24b1e945ed.jpg\")
The Ukrainian and US negotiating teams in the Mar-a-Lago dining room \u00a9 Getty Images<\/p>\n
![\"Russian](\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/https%3A%2F%2Fimages.ft.com%2Fv3%2Fimage%2Fraw%2Fhttps%253A%252F%252Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%252Fproduction%252F4cb097e3-dc7f-402c-a99e-6adc94e13da1.jpg%3Fsource%3Dnext-article%26fit%3Dscale-down%26quality%3Dhighest%26width%3D700%26dpr%3D1?source=next&fit=scale-down&dpr=2&width=240\")
<\/a><\/p>\n