 "US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy leave a press conference following their meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. AFP")
Terrific. Great.
That’s how Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy described their hours-long meeting in Florida’s Mar-a-Lago, where the two leaders met on Sunday (December 28) to achieve a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
Both of them expressed optimism that they were on the precipice of a peace deal to end the largest war in Europe in 80 years. Trump, in fact, said that the outcome of the talks would be known in a few weeks, saying Ukraine is “a lot closer” to a deal and that the pair had “made a lot of progress on ending that war”.
Notably, Trump also spoke to Russia’s Vladimir Putin beforehand by telephone, during which the Russian leader insisted that Moscow was “serious” about peace despite the major new attacks on residential areas of the capital Kyiv.
Here’s what we learnt from Trump and Zelenskyy’s meeting and how close we are to peace in the Russia-Ukraine war.
No deadline to end the war
While both presidents expressed optimism about the progress they achieved in securing peace between Russia and Ukraine, US President Donald Trump seemed intent to avoid raising expectations for an imminent deal too high.
The US president even said, “It’s possible it doesn’t happen,” on the peace deal. “In a few weeks, we’ll know one way or another.”
Trump further said: “I think we’re in the very final stages of talking, and we’re going to see, it’ll either end or it’s going to go on for a long time, and millions of additional people are going to be killed.”
The American leader said a draft agreement to end the war was nearly “95 per cent done”. “I really think we are closer than ever with both sides,” he said, adding that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, also wants to “see it happen”.
However, he added that “one or two very thorny issues” remained outstanding — most notably on the issue of land.
The ‘thorny issues’ that persist
When asked what continues to be the thorniest issue in attempting to reach a peace settlement to end the war, Trump said that it is territory, namely the Donbas region.
Both Trump and Zelenskyy said that the proposal to turn the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, which Russia largely controls, into a demilitarised zone remains “unresolved”. Trump, however, noted that talks were “moving in the right direction.”
Putin wants control of Donbas as a condition to end the war — Moscow currently controls about 75 per cent of the Donetsk region, and some 99 per cent of the neighbouring Luhansk, which collectively is known as Donbas.
Kyiv has, however, ruled out accepting this. Speaking about it, Zelenskyy said he had to “respect our law and our people”, as well as the territory controlled by Ukraine. “And of course, our attitude is very clear,” he said. “That’s why President Trump said this is a very tough question.”
Ukraine has “a different position to Russia” on the matter, he added.
The US president also offered to address the Ukrainian parliament to promote the peace plan, which Zelenskyy was quick to welcome.
Security guarantees seemed to be the other issue preventing peace in the region. While Zelenskyy said that US-Ukraine security guarantees were “100 per cent agreed”, Trump noted that security guarantees for Ukraine are “95 per cent done”, without formally committing to logistical support or troop deployment to help protect Ukraine from future attacks.
Putin remains present even when he’s not in the room
While Putin wasn’t in the room when Trump and Zelenskyy held talks, the Russian leader’s presence could be felt.
Trump spoke to the Russian leader for more than an hour before the talks with Zelenskyy began, in a phone call the Kremlin said the US president requested. Trump also said he would speak with Putin again after his meeting with Zelenskyy.
This has been a concern for Ukrainian supporters. As CNN reported, they note that Trump hears Putin’s point of view, and the subsequent meeting goes south. For instance, in October, when Trump declined to provide Ukraine with new long-range missiles after he held talks with the Russian leader.
This time around, Trump praised Putin on the issue of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant . The US president said, “President Putin is actually working with Ukraine on getting it open. It’s a big step when he’s not bombing that plant.”
Trump further added that he still thought Putin was serious about peace. “He wants to see it happen. He wants to see it,” he said. “He told me very strongly, I believe him.”
Trump and Zelenskyy and their fraught relationship
Sunday’s meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy was a far cry from the meeting they held in February , when the US president indulged in a shouting match with his Ukrainian counterpart.
On meeting in Florida, Trump praised Zelenskyy, saying: “This gentleman has worked very hard, and is very brave, and his people are very brave.”
Zelenskyy, on the other hand, began and ended his remarks by profusely thanking Trump, which is interesting considering that the US president and his vice president had scolded him for not being grateful.
Europe looks on
After Trump and Zelenskyy’s marathon talks, the two world leaders also called a wide group of European leaders, including Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and the leaders of Finland, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Poland.
Zelenskyy said Trump had agreed to host European leaders again, possibly at the White House, sometime in January. Trump said the meeting could be in Washington or “someplace.”
Following the call, Ursula von der Leyen wrote on social media, “There was good progress, which we welcomed. Europe is ready to keep working with Ukraine and our US partners to consolidate this progress,” she added. “Paramount to this effort is to have ironclad security guarantees from day one.”
So, what comes next? Zelenskyy and Trump both said negotiations would continue in the coming weeks — but for now, it seems the war is still on and not ending any time soon.
With inputs from agencies