Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are to meet on Sunday to discuss a plan to end the war in Ukraine, amid continuing Russian attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, and scepticism that Moscow is willing to drop any of its maximalist demands.
Zelenskyy arrived in Florida on Saturday night with a Ukrainian delegation, before talks with the US president at his Mar-a-Lago residence. The two leaders are expected to discuss the latest iteration of a 20-point peace plan and the unresolved question of the future of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
Vladimir Putin has demanded Ukraine hand over territory in the north of Donetsk oblast that his forces have been unable to capture. Zelenskyy’s counter-proposal envisages a demilitarised zone, with both sides withdrawing from the line of contact. The plan could be put to a referendum, providing Moscow first agrees to a ceasefire lasting from 60 to 90 days.
But fundamental problems remain, including the issue of security guarantees to prevent Russia from attacking again. Trump has made no military commitment to defend Ukraine. The original 28-point US plan was presented in November after talks with Russia and in effect demanded Ukraine’s capitulation.
Speaking alongside Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, on Saturday, Zelenskyy described Putin’s latest large-scale air attack on Kyiv as “Russia’s answer to our peace efforts”. The Ukrainian president said to Carney: “We need two things, pressure on Russia and sufficient strong support for Ukraine.” Ukraine’s capital was hit by more than 500 drones and ballistic missiles across Friday night and Saturday. The 12-hour onslaught killed two people and left half a million without power. Carney called the bombardment “barbaric”. A “willing Russia” was necessary to create conditions for a just and lasting peace, he said.
Sunday’s talks are a moment of high risk for Zelenskyy, with the possibility of a diplomatic disaster never far away. In a recent interview with the Guardian, Ukraine’s leader said he “wasn’t afraid” of the mercurial US president because both of them had a democratic mandate.
In February, Trump and the US vice-president, JD Vance, berated Zelenskyy in a bruising session at the White House. Subsequent meetings have gone better, including at the Vatican in April, and at the White House in October, when Zelenskyy was flanked by European leaders including Keir Starmer.
Ukrainian officials have worked hard to repair relations with a Russia-leaning White House, while coordinating closely with European allies. Zelenskyy spoke with European leaders on Saturday and said he expected them to join the talks with Trump on Sunday through a video conference link from Mar-a-Lago.
The Ukrainian delegation includes Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s national security and defence council, the first deputy foreign minister, Sergiy Kyslytsya, and Ukraine’s new ambassador to Washington, Olha Stefanishyna. Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner will join from the US side.
Zelenskyy has described the meeting with Trump as a bilateral mostly focused on US-Ukraine issues. Key topics include security guarantees from the US and Europe, the military situation and a roadmap for implementing agreements. The 20-point plan was 90% complete, Zelenskyy indicated, with territorial issues yet to be settled.
On Sunday, Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had seized five settlements in eastern and southern Ukraine, including Myrnohrad near the eastern city of Pokrovsk and Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region. The announcement before the Florida talks appeared designed to send a message to Trump that Russia’s victory in Donbas is inevitable.
Russian forces have been advancing but they have also suffered setbacks. In recent weeks Ukraine’s defence forces have clawed back control over much of the city of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, after its infiltration by small groups of Russian infantry. Ukraine dismissed Moscow’s latest claims and said its defences were holding.
Its military said it hit the Syzran oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region in an overnight drone attack. The damage was still being assessed, it added. Three civilians were wounded after Russian drone and missile attacks in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine’s national police said.
There were few expectations on Sunday that the Trump-Zelenskyy talks would result in a meaningful deal. In an interview with Politico last week, Trump said he anticipated a “good” meeting but failed to endorse Zelenskyy’s latest proposals. “He doesn’t have anything until I approve it,” Trump said. “So we’ll see what he’s got.”
With Trump unwilling to pressure Russia, observers expect the nearly four-year-old full-scale war to continue. “The fundamental flaw in the current diplomatic push is the absence of the aggressor at the negotiating table,” Yuriy Boyechko, the founder of the charity Hope for Ukraine, said.
He added: “Peace is not achieved by one side agreeing to terms with a third party; it requires the principal belligerent, Vladimir Putin, to commit to a ceasefire and withdrawal. As long as Russia is actively launching its heaviest attacks in months, it is signalling that it has no intention of honouring a deal it did not sign.”
