PALM BEACH, United States: US President Donald Trump welcomed Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to his Florida estate Sunday for critical talks on ending the war with Russia.
The two leaders stood outside the Mar-a-Lago resort and addressed reporters as they prepared to discuss a new proposal to end the conflict.
Trump told reporters that diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine war were in the “final stages”.
“I think we’re very, we’re in the final stages of talking, and we’re going to see. Otherwise, it’s going to go on for a long time,” said Trump, adding that he did not have a deadline for the process.
Trump said Russian leader Vladimir Putin, whom he spoke to just before his meeting with Zelensky, was “very serious” about peace.
He added that there would be “a strong agreement” to guarantee Ukraine’s security, one which would involve European countries.
Earlier, Trump said he had “productive” talks with Putin ahead of a meeting with Zelensky.
“I just had a very good and productive telephone call with President Putin of Russia,” Trump announced on his Truth Social platform.
The Kremlin gave a more pointed readout, saying that Trump agreed that a mere ceasefire “would only prolong the conflict” as it demanded Ukraine compromise on territory.
Trump is meeting Zelensky in the dining room of his Mar-a-Lago estate, where he frequently brings both foreign guests and domestic supporters.
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.
Zelensky, who has faced verbal attacks from Trump, has sought to show willingness to work with the contours of the US leader’s plans.
Today’s meeting is Trump’s first in-person encounter with Zelensky since October, when the US president refused to grant his request for long-range Tomahawk missiles.
And the Ukrainian leader could face another hard sell this time around, with Trump insisting that he “doesn’t have anything until I approve it.”
‘Friendly’ phone call
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.
European allies
The 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 demilitarised buffer zones.
As such, it contains Kyiv’s most explicit acknowledgement yet of possible territorial concessions.
It does not, however, envisage Ukraine withdrawing from the 20 percent of the eastern Donetsk region that it still controls — Russia’s main territorial demand.
Earlier, Zelensky 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.
Russia has accused Ukraine and its European backers of trying to “torpedo” a previous US-brokered plan to stop the fighting and recent battlefield gains.
“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.
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.”
