Zelenskyy, Trump to hold high-stakes peace talks in Florida amid intensifying Russian strikes on Kyiv

Trump, who has been in Palm Beach since December 20, will pause his holiday break to hold the talks. The meeting was arranged after Zelenskyy held an hour-long phone call last week with Steve Witkoff, Trump’s foreign envoy, and Jared Kushner, who is involved in finalising the peace proposal, according to CNN.

Earlier this month, Trump had indicated that talks with Zelenskyy or European leaders would only be useful if negotiations were nearing a breakthrough, signalling what US officials describe as an advanced stage of discussions. American officials have said substantial progress has been made, with one US official stating that about 90 per cent of the deal’s terms had been settled, a figure Zelenskyy publicly confirmed on Friday, CNN reported.

“It isn’t easy. No one is saying that it will be 100% right away, but nevertheless, we must bring the desired result closer with every such meeting, every such conversation,” Zelenskyy said.

The remaining unresolved issues include land concessions to end the nearly four-year war, with Russia maintaining demands that Ukraine cede the entire eastern Donbas region. Zelenskyy has said he is no longer ruling out concessions entirely and would submit the peace plan to a referendum if Russia agrees to a ceasefire, in line with Ukraine’s constitutional requirements.

US officials have floated what were described as “thought-provoking” ideas to address the impasse, including the creation of an “economic free zone” in eastern Ukraine, CNN reported.

Another unresolved issue is the Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Zelenskyy has said Kyiv proposes operating the facility as a joint US-Ukraine enterprise, with half the electricity allocated to Ukraine and the rest distributed by the United States.

Russia will not be represented at Sunday’s meeting, and it remains unclear whether Moscow is prepared to accept an immediate ceasefire. Trump has repeatedly said that both sides have acted as obstacles to peace. Speaking a day before the meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that “if Kyiv is not willing to resolve the matter peacefully, Russia will accomplish all the aims of the special military operation by military means,” according to Russian state media cited by CNN.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 519 drones and 40 missiles overnight into Saturday. Zelenskyy said the continued attacks showed that Russia’s actions on the battlefield contradicted its participation in talks.

US officials expressed hope that Sunday’s meeting would be productive after a week of intensive engagement between American and Ukrainian negotiators, though no specific outcome was publicly outlined, CNN reported.

Zelenskyy said he wants to finalise a framework to end the conflict, including securing concrete security guarantees from Washington to prevent further Russian aggression. US, European and Ukrainian officials have discussed guarantees similar to NATO’s Article 5, which would include deterrence measures, monitoring mechanisms and consequences for violations.

“This is the most robust set of security protocols they have ever seen. It is a very, very strong package,” a senior US official said, adding that Trump is willing to take US-backed guarantees to Congress. Another official described the proposal as the “platinum standard” of what Washington could offer.

US officials also said Russia had indicated openness to Ukraine joining the European Union as part of a peace agreement. Sunday’s meeting is not expected to include European leaders, unlike some previous engagements, CNN reported.

Trump said in an interview with Politico on Friday that he expects the meeting with Zelenskyy to “go good” but added that the Ukrainian president “doesn’t have anything until I approve it.”

European officials said they were cautiously optimistic about the talks but acknowledged uncertainty. “There is no low-risk scenario with Trump,” a NATO official said. (ANI)