United States President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy have expressed optimism that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is close following their talks in Florida, even as the thorny issue of territory remains outstanding.
Addressing reporters after meeting Zelenskyy at the Mar-a-Lago estate and following an earlier call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, Trump said that Moscow and Kyiv were “closer than ever” to a peace deal.
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“We have made a lot of progress on ending that war,” Trump said during a news conference with Zelenskyy.
“We will see if it gets done, but it’s very close, certainly.”
Zelenskyy said that a 20-point peace plan unveiled last week was “90 percent agreed” to, and that US-Ukraine security guarantees were “100 percent agreed” to.
“We agreed that security guarantees are key milestone in achieving lasting peace, and our teams will keep working on all aspects,” Zelenskyy said.
Still, the talks produced no visible breakthrough on the sensitive issue of Ukrainian territory.
Trump acknowledged that one or two “very tough” issues remained outstanding, including the status of the eastern Donbas region, which was annexed by Russia after its 2022 full-scale invasion.
Trump said the sides were “closer” to an agreement on a US proposal to create a “free economic zone” in parts of the region, under which Kyiv would withdraw its forces as part of a negotiated peace.
“I would not say agreed, but we’re getting closer to an agreement on that, and that’s a big issue. Certainly, that’s one of the big issues, and… it’s unresolved,” Trump said.
Zelenskyy reiterated his position that the issue of territory should be decided by the people of Ukraine and said that different aspects of the peace plan could be put to the public in referendums.
“Of course, our society has to choose… because it’s their land… not of one person. It’s the land of our nation, for a lot of generations,” he said.
After their talks, Trump and Zelenskyy held a joint phone call with key European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Trump has been trying to end Russia’s nearly four-year war in Ukraine since returning to the White House in January.
He has variously shown irritation with both Zelenskyy and Putin, while publicly acknowledging the difficulty of resolving the conflict.
Before his meeting with Zelenskyy on Sunday, Trump said that Moscow and Kyiv were in the “final stages of talking” and had the “makings of a deal that’s good for Ukraine, good for everybody”.
Russia intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, in the days before the Florida meeting.
During talks between US and Ukrainian negotiators in Berlin earlier this month, the Trump administration agreed to offer certain security guarantees to Ukraine similar to those offered to other members of NATO.
The proposal came after Zelenskyy said he could agree to no longer seek membership of the security alliance if Ukraine received NATO-like guarantees to protect the country from Russian attacks.
Oleksandr Kraiev, an analyst with the think tank Ukrainian Prism, said that the people of Ukraine were “quite cynical” about the US-brokered talks.
“We tried this in 2015, 2016, 2017, and unfortunately, each time, the Russians broke even the ceasefire regime, not even talking about the peace process,” Kraiev told Al Jazeera, referring to previous accords such as the 2015 Minsk II Agreement, which aimed to end the war in Donbas between Ukraine’s army and pro-Russian separatists.
“So, we have little faith that a proper peace process will take place. As of now, we’re striving for a ceasefire as a precondition for any kind of talks… We cannot trust the Russians with a peace deal, but a ceasefire is something we’re working on.”
‘Blindsided yet again’
Trump’s optimistic tone comes despite widespread scepticism in Europe about Putin’s intentions after Russia carried out heavy bombardment of Kyiv just as Zelenskyy headed to Florida.
Before Zelenskyy arrived, Trump spoke with Putin by phone for more than an hour and said he planned to speak with him again after the Zelenskyy meeting, catching Ukrainian leaders off guard, according to Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi.
“From what we’re hearing, the Zelenskyy delegation here have been blindsided yet again by Donald Trump. And according to the Russians, it was at the Americans’ insistence [that] there should be a call with Vladimir Putin the hour before Zelenskyy arrived,” said Rattansi, speaking from Palm Beach, Florida.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump described the call with Putin as “very good” and “productive”.
The Kremlin offered a more pointed account in its readout of the call, saying that Trump agreed that a ceasefire “would only prolong the conflict” as it demanded Ukraine make concessions on territory.
Zelenskyy said last week that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland if Russia also pulled back and the area became a demilitarised zone monitored by international forces.
Putin has stated that all areas in four key regions captured by his forces – Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson – as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014, should be recognised as Russian territory. The Russian leader has also demanded that Ukraine withdraw from parts of eastern Ukraine that Moscow’s forces have not occupied.
Kyiv has publicly rejected those demands.
Trump has appeared sympathetic to some of Putin’s demands, arguing that the Russian president could be persuaded to end the fighting if Kyiv gives up Ukrainian land in the Donbas region, and if Western countries welcome Russia back into the global economy.