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LAST UPDATE | 42 mins ago
US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has said diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine were in the “final stages” as he sat down for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Florida today.
“I think we’re very, we’re in final stages of talking, and we’re going to see. Otherwise it’s going to go on for a long time,” Trump said, adding that he had not set a deadline for reaching an agreement.
Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he spoke by phone shortly before the meeting, was “very serious” about peace, and claimed there would be “a strong agreement” to guarantee Ukraine’s security involving European countries.
The comments came hours after Trump described his phone call with Putin as “very good and productive”, despite widespread scepticism in Europe about Moscow’s intentions following a fresh Russian bombardment of Kyiv overnight.
Trump is meeting Zelenskyy at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, in their first in-person encounter since October, as part of what the US president has framed as a year-end push to broker a deal to end the conflict.
Trump has made ending the Ukraine war a centrepiece of his second term, styling himself a “president of peace”, though he has repeatedly blamed both Kyiv and Moscow for the failure to secure a ceasefire.
Zelenskyy has sought to show willingness to engage with Trump’s proposals, despite previous verbal attacks from the US president. However, Putin has offered little public indication that he is prepared to compromise.
Earlier today, the Kremlin urged Ukraine to withdraw its remaining troops from the eastern Donbas region as a condition for ending the war.
Ukraine should take a “brave decision” to pull out of the portion of the Donetsk region it still controls “without delay”, Kremlin diplomatic adviser Yuri Ushakov said, describing it as a key Russian demand.
Speaking after Sunday’s call between Putin and Trump, Ushakov said the two leaders agreed that any temporary ceasefire would simply prolong the conflict.
“Russia and the United States share the same position, which is that the Ukrainian and European proposal for a temporary ceasefire would only prolong the conflict and lead to a resumption of hostilities,” he said.
Russia has repeatedly rejected a temporary halt to the fighting, arguing it would allow Ukraine time to rearm. Instead, Moscow says it wants a final settlement addressing what it describes as the “root causes” of the war.
Ushakov said Trump initiated Sunday’s call because he wanted to discuss the conflict before meeting Zelenskyy, and described the conversation between the two leaders as “friendly”.
He added that Putin had agreed to the creation of two special working groups on a potential settlement, one focused on security issues and the other on economic aspects, and that Trump had told Putin he wanted an end to the war “as rapidly as possible”.
Following the Florida talks, Trump and Putin are expected to speak again, according to Ushakov.
European leaders are also expected to be involved, with Trump scheduled to hold a joint call with several allies after his meeting with Zelenskyy.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the latest Russian strikes on Kyiv were “contrary to President Trump’s expectations” and came despite Ukraine’s readiness to make compromises.
The revised peace plan under discussion would freeze the conflict along current front lines and could involve Ukrainian troop withdrawals in the east, creating demilitarised buffer zones, Ukraine’s most explicit acknowledgement yet of potential territorial concessions.
However, the plan does not envisage Kyiv fully withdrawing from the 20% of the Donetsk region it still controls, Russia’s primary territorial demand.
Zelenskyy has said he will press Trump on the need for strong security guarantees to prevent renewed Russian aggression.
“We need strong security guarantees. We will discuss this and we will discuss the terms,” he said, adding that Ukraine continues to require European and US funding and weapons, particularly drones.
Ukraine insists it needs more European and US funding and weapons – especially drones.
Russia, meanwhile, has accused Ukraine and its European backers of attempting to “torpedo” previous US-brokered efforts to halt the fighting, and recent Russian battlefield gains are seen as strengthening Moscow’s negotiating position.
“If the authorities in Kyiv don’t want to settle this peacefully, we’ll resolve all the problems by military means,” Putin said on Saturday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has criticised European governments as the “main obstacle” to peace, accusing them of preparing for confrontation with Russia.
“They are making no secret of their plans to prepare for war with Russia,” Lavrov said, adding that the ambitions of European politicians are “literally blinding them.”
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