KEY POINTS
- Trump says he held a “very good and productive” phone call with Putin.
- Kremlin says Putin and Trump agreed to speak again after the Zelensky meeting.
- Trump and Zelensky are set to meet at Mar-a-Lago to discuss peace efforts.
- Zelensky says Ukraine will seek security guarantees and tougher sanctions on Russia.
- European leaders reaffirmed strong support for Ukraine.
- Moscow accused Europe of blocking peace efforts.
- Putin warned Russia would pursue its goals by force if talks fail.
PALM BEACH, United States: US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he held a “very good and productive” telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, ahead of a planned meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Florida, to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the call with Putin took place ahead of talks with Zelensky scheduled for 1:00 pm local time (1800 GMT) at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.
The US President said the meeting would be held in the resort’s main dining room and that the press had been invited.
“I just had a good and very productive telephone call with President Putin of Russia prior to my meeting today with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine,” Trump wrote.
The Kremlin said Putin and Trump had a “friendly” phone call before the US President met with Zelensky, and will talk again after it concludes.
“The entire conversation took place in a friendly atmosphere,” Kremlin diplomatic advisor Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
“They agreed to speak again by telephone after the meeting between the US president and Zelensky.”
Ushakov told reporters that Russia and the US agree that any temporary ceasefire in Ukraine would 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,” the Kremlin’s diplomatic advisor said.
He also said Ukraine should now take the “brave decision” to withdraw its troops “without delay” from the Donbas region to “put an end” to the conflict.
Trump has made ending the Ukraine war a centrepiece of his second term as a self-proclaimed “president of peace,” and he has repeatedly blamed both Kyiv and Moscow for the failure to secure a ceasefire.
The call came as Russia intensified missile and drone strikes across Ukraine over the weekend.
Hundreds of missiles and drones hit Kyiv and other regions on Saturday, knocking out power and heating in parts of the capital, according to Ukrainian officials.
Zelensky arrived in Florida on Sunday for talks with Trump, Ukrainian media and officials said.
Video released by the Ukrainian presidency showed Zelensky being greeted by officials upon his arrival in Miami, including Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Olha Stefanishyna.
20-point peace plan
The meeting will focus on efforts to end the nearly three-year war between Russia and Ukraine.
Zelensky is expected to present a 20-point peace plan that includes proposals for Russian troop withdrawals from several Ukrainian regions and the creation of an $800 billion fund for post-war reconstruction, according to US media reports.
In a post on X earlier on Sunday, Zelensky said Ukraine supported Trump’s call for a ceasefire. “If the whole world — Europe and America — is on our side, together we will stop Putin,” he wrote.
Zelensky said he planned to raise issues including security guarantees, air defence systems and sanctions against Russia during the talks.
“These are some of the most active diplomatic days of the year right now, and a lot can be decided before the New Year,” Zelensky said.
Trump’s diplomatic balancing act
Trump has portrayed himself as a dealmaker seeking to end the conflict. He and Zelensky have held several tense meetings this year.
In February, during a heated Oval Office encounter, Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused Zelensky of blocking peace efforts.
Trump told the Ukrainian leader he did not “have the cards” and warned he was “gambling with World War III”.
Trump has also previously suggested Ukraine might need to cede territory to Russia to secure peace, an idea Kyiv has repeatedly rejected.
Republican Congressman Mike Turner, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Trump was “on the side of peace” and faced the difficult task of balancing competing interests.
“He’s trying to bring these two parties together,” Turner said on ABC’s This Week, adding that Ukraine would need credible security assurances.
European allies
Trump and Zelensky’s talks are expected to last an hour, after which the two presidents are scheduled to hold a joint call with the leaders of key European allies.
The revised peace plan, which emerged from weeks of intense US-Ukraine negotiations, would stop the war along its current front lines and could require Ukraine to pull troops back from the east, allowing the creation of demilitarized buffer zones, AFP reported.
As such, it contains Kyiv’s most explicit acknowledgement yet of possible territorial concessions.
It does not, however, envisage Ukraine withdrawing from 20 percent of the eastern Donetsk region, which is Russia’s main territorial demand.
The Ukrainian leader said he hoped the talks in Florida would be “very constructive” but stressed that Putin had shown his hand with a deadly drone and missile assault on Kyiv.
“This attack is again Russia’s answer on our peace efforts. And this really showed that Putin doesn’t want peace,” he said as he visited Canada.
He also told reporters that he would press Trump on the importance of providing security guarantees that would prevent any renewed Russian aggression if a ceasefire were secured.
“We need strong security guarantees. We will discuss this and we will discuss the terms,” he said.
Ukraine insists it needs more European and US funding and weapons — especially drones.
Moscow’s position
On Sunday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with state media that Europe had become a major obstacle to peace since Trump returned to office.
He praised Trump while accusing European leaders of slowing progress towards ending the war.
President Vladimir Putin, speaking during a visit to a military command post, said Ukraine’s leadership was “not in a hurry” to resolve the conflict peacefully.
He warned that if Kyiv was unwilling to negotiate, Russia would pursue its objectives “by force”.
“If the authorities in Kyiv don’t want to settle this business peacefully, we’ll resolve all the problems before us by military means,” Putin said on Saturday.
Trump and Putin last spoke in October, when they agreed in principle to hold a summit in Budapest.
Trump later cancelled the meeting, saying he believed it would be a waste of time.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told state news agency TASS that Moscow would continue its engagement with US negotiators but criticised European governments as the “main obstacle” to peace.
“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.”
European support for Ukraine
European leaders reaffirmed their backing for Ukraine ahead of the Trump-Zelensky meeting.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa joined a call with Zelensky on Saturday.
“We welcome all efforts leading to a just and lasting peace that preserves Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” von der Leyen said on X.
She added that the European Union would continue to pressure the Kremlin and support Ukraine’s defence and reconstruction.
Costa said the EU’s support “will not falter” and warned that further sanctions on Russia could be imposed if necessary.
Zelensky also spoke with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday, discussing preparations for the Trump meeting and the situation on the frontline.
