Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that the Trump administration hopes to reach a "full understanding" over its peace plan by Christmas, but critical gaps remain on the issues of territory and security guarantees.
Why it matters: Zelensky gave the most detailed picture yet of what has and has not been agreed with Washington. His comments come ahead of a planned meeting between senior officials from Ukraine, France, Germany and the U.K.
- That meeting will take place in Paris on Saturday, according to White House official and a Ukrainian official. However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was "still up in the air" whether the U.S. would take part.
- "The president is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war and he is sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting," Leavitt said.
Between the lines: Tensions are sky-high between the U.S. and Ukraine, and between the U.S. and Europe.
- Zelensky faces growing pressure from Trump to swiftly accept the 20-point plan.
- The Europeans have been reassuring Kyiv but infuriating some in Washington by counseling patience.
Driving the news: "We believe that a ceasefire is needed, but the information we're getting is that the only option for a ceasefire is signing a framework agreement," Zelensky said during a press briefing on Thursday.
- The Trump administration has not issued a firm ultimatum but wants a "full understanding of where we are with this agreement by Christmas," according to the Ukrainian president.
- There will be separate agreements on peace with Russia and rebuilding Ukraine, ideally with frozen Russian assets, Zelensky said.
- The U.S. also provided an upgraded proposal on security guarantees. Those will "go to Congress," Zelensky said, presumably meaning Ukraine expects a Senate-ratified treaty. He suggested there is still work needed to refine them to Ukraine's satisfaction.
Zoom in: The biggest gap is over territory. Zelensky confirmed that the U.S. side still wants Ukraine to agree to leave the Donbas region entirely, but has now suggested that Russia would not advance into that ceded territory but leave it as a "free economic zone."
- Zelensky said the U.S. side does not know who would govern that territory or how Russian force would be prevented from simply advancing into it.
- "It is probably fair to ask: 'If someone is supposed to pull back on one side, as they want from the Ukrainians, why does the other side in the war not pull back the same distance in the opposite direction?'" he said.
- Ukraine has not accepted this proposal, Zelensky said, and continues to believe the fighting should stop along the current lines.
- Zelensky also said the U.S. proposal calls on Russia to pull back from "some pockets of our regions," but that in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Russia had said "we stay where we are."
- Russia insists on maintaining control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, but Ukraine won't accept that and the U.S. is working on a compromise involving joint management, Zelensky said.
The flipside: Zelensky seemed more optimistic about some aspects of the plan. He suggested the proposed 800,000-troop limit for Ukraine's army — roughly matching its current size — was acceptable to Kyiv.
- While he said it was clear the U.S. would not invite Ukraine into NATO, he said the U.S. could help clear Ukraine's path to the EU.
- Ukraine gave the Trump administration a point-by-point response to the latest draft of the U.S. peace plan on Wednesday.
- Zelensky said the next steps would involve turning each of Trump's 20 points into more detailed documents.
Behind the scenes: The meeting in Paris follows a call on Wednesday between Trump and France President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
- Merz said Thursday that he and his fellow leaders had told Trump that only Ukraine can determine what to do with its own territory.
- Merz said the call was constructive and that both sides showed respect. Trump, by contrast, said the participants "discussed Ukraine in pretty strong words."
The intrigue: While Ukraine, Germany, France and the U.K. will be represented at Saturday's meeting by their national security advisers, it's unclear if Secretary of State Marco Rubio — who is also Trump's national security adviser — will attend.
- Rubio led the U.S. delegation for talks with Ukraine in Geneva three weeks ago, but since then the negotiations have been led by Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner.
- Zelensky and the Europeans also want to hold a joint call with Trump, but it hasn't been scheduled yet, a White House official and a source with knowledge said.
The other side: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that Moscow wanted to see a peace plan that included security guarantees for "all sides" and addressed "the root causes of the conflict."
- Lavrov added that Russia won't accept NATO membership for Ukraine, and had handed the U.S. proposals for "collective security guarantees." He added that he thinks all misunderstandings with the U.S. were resolved in Presiden Vladimir Putin's meeting last week with Witkoff and Kushner.
- Ukrainian and European officials remain highly skeptical that Russia is earnestly seeking peace, though Trump has said he believes Putin is serious.
This article has been updated throughout.
