By Janet Ekstract, NEW YORK – On December 28, after over three hours of talks in Florida, about a path to peace in the Russia-Ukraine war, with discussions between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, both leaders acknowledged that the path to peace will take more time and that the process is complicated. The leaders met on Sunday, and Trump also spoke via phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier that day. Trump said that U.S., Ukrainian and European teams will continue meeting in the coming weeks, most likely in Washington, though a venue is still undecided. Trump praised Zelensky and said, “I do think we’re getting a lot closer, maybe very close,” referring to signing off on a potential 20-point revised peace agreement.
Key takeaways from Sunday’s meeting included the fact that Trump didn’t have a timeline for when the war between Russia and Ukraine will end and that Zelensky said that 90% of the terms of the peace plan have been agreed to. Though intensive talks are ongoing, led by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner – Trump said: “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.” Trump commented that “There are one or two very thorny issues, very tough issues but I think we’re doing very well.” He added that it’s “not a one-day process deal, this [is] very complicated stuff.” Trump said: “In a few weeks, we’ll know one way or another,” about whether there will be a deal or not.
Meanwhile, Putin who declined a meeting in the U.S., spoke with Trump for over an hour by phone on Sunday prior to talks with Zelensky. Analysts pointed out that in the past, Trump’s position of wanting to appease Putin and view him as desiring peace, has influenced how the U.S. president deals with Zelensky. As Trump said, Putin still wants peace: “He wants to see it happen. He wants to see it,” adding “He told me very strongly, I believe him.” Several contentious points remain: control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and land concession with Trump mentioning it’s better to make land concessions now. As Trump said: “Some of that land has been taken. Some of that land is maybe up for grabs, but it may be taken over the next period of a number of months,” adding “And are you better off making a deal now?”
