US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Sunday, seeking to push a fragile, US-backed peace plan for Ukraine’s war with Russia over the finish line. The talks unfolded against a backdrop of fresh Russian attacks on Kyiv and intense pressure on both leaders to show that diplomacy can finally halt nearly four years of bloodshed.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!A Florida summit under fire
The two leaders sat down at Mar-a-Lago hours after Trump spoke by phone for more than an hour with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a call the Kremlin described as “friendly” and “businesslike.” Trump said he planned to speak with Putin again soon after his talks with Zelenskyy, underscoring how tightly Moscow’s calculations are tied to any potential deal.
As Trump hosted Zelenskyy in the chandelier-lit club where he is spending the holidays golfing, Russia stepped up missile and drone strikes on Ukraine’s capital in a bid to raise the military and political costs for Kyiv. Trump insisted that, despite the violence, Ukraine and Russia are “closer than ever before” to a peace agreement, even as he acknowledged the risk that negotiations could still collapse.
Peace plan shows promise and peril
At the heart of the Trump-Zelenskyy talks is a 20-point US peace proposal that aims to end the Ukraine war and lock in long-term security guarantees for the nation. Zelenskyy arrived in Florida backing up a revised version of the plan and later said the two sides had reached a “100 percent” agreement on bilateral security guarantees, while the broader framework with the US and Europe is “almost” finalised.
The thorniest unresolved issues include whether Russia will be allowed to keep control of occupied Ukrainian territories, the future of the embattled Donbas region in the east, and the status of key infrastructure such as the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Technical details on how any security guarantees would be monitored and enforced also remain on the table, with negotiators racing to ensure that any deal can prevent future Russian aggression.
Zelenskyy’s tightrope: Peace without surrender
Zelenskyy has repeatedly framed Ukraine’s goal as “peace with justice,” vowing not to capitulate even as he signals flexibility on how to end active fighting. Ahead of the Florida meeting, he said Ukraine was “ready to do everything” to stop the war and floated the idea of withdrawing Ukrainian troops from parts of the industrial east if Russia also pulls back and a demilitarised zone is created under international supervision.
He has hinted that Ukrainians themselves may ultimately have to vote on any major territorial concessions, a step that could involve a referendum if current legal barriers are changed. At the same time, Zelenskyy has urged allies to maintain “maximum pressure” on Moscow and “strong support for Ukraine,” winning fresh pledges of economic assistance such as a new multibillion-dollar package from Canada to aid reconstruction.
Trump’s shifting tone on a ‘very difficult’ deal
Throughout his first year in office, Trump has made ending the Ukraine war a signature foreign-policy priority, even as he walks back earlier campaign boasts that he could solve the conflict “in one day.” Standing beside Zelenskyy in Florida, Trump praised the Ukrainian leader as “very brave” and said both he and Putin want the war to end, but he described the talks as “very detailed” and “very difficult,” with at least one major unresolved issue he refused to spell out.
Trump has suggested in the past that hostilities should “stop at the battle line,” signaling openness to Russia keeping some occupied territory, a position that worries many in Kyiv and European capitals. Even on Sunday, he blended praise for Ukraine’s military efforts with unsubstantiated suggestions that recent explosions inside Russia might have been the result of Ukrainian “very strong attacks,” remarks that could complicate his role as a neutral broker.
What comes next for the Russia‑Ukraine war
Both leaders portrayed the Florida meeting as a significant step forward but stopped short of declaring a breakthrough, underscoring how fragile the process remains. Trump said that “in a few weeks we will know one way or the other” whether the negotiations can produce a final agreement, while Zelenskyy stressed that key questions on territory, nuclear safety and long-term financing for Ukraine’s recovery are still unresolved.
The next phase will likely involve intensive shuttle diplomacy, further talks with European leaders, and another high stakes call between Trump and Putin as they test whether a politically painful compromise is possible. For Ukrainians under fire and a world weary of war and economic shocks, the Florida summit offered a glimmer of hope, but also a reminder that peace, if it comes, will be hard-fought at the negotiating table as well as on the battlefield.