Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to meet President Donald Trump later Sunday at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, opening a pivotal round of diplomacy aimed at ending Russia’s nearly four-year war on Ukraine as Moscow intensifies military pressure with fresh missile and drone attacks.
The face-to-face talks, scheduled for about 1 p.m. local time, will be the leaders’ first in-person meeting since October, when Trump declined Zelenskyy’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles. The encounter comes at a moment of heightened urgency for Kyiv, as Russia steps up strikes on major cities in an apparent bid to shape negotiations through force.
The Guardian said the two leaders are expected to review an updated U.S.-brokered framework intended to halt the fighting, a proposal Russia has yet to endorse. In the days leading up to the meeting, Russian forces increased attacks on Ukraine’s capital and southern regions, underscoring the fragile backdrop to the diplomacy.
Ukrainian emergency officials said residents in several areas awoke Sunday to renewed bombardment. In the southern city of Kherson, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said a woman was injured during what it described as “massive shelling” by Russian forces.
Zelenskyy has made clear that any pathway to peace hinges on firm U.S.-backed security guarantees designed to deter future Russian aggression. Ukrainian officials say discussions are also expected to center on control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and the fate of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region — long the most intractable issue in negotiations.
Russia currently controls roughly three-quarters of Donetsk province and nearly all of neighboring Luhansk, together known as the Donbas. Reuters reported that Zelenskyy told journalists he plans to raise both Donbas and the nuclear plant during the Florida talks, signaling Kyiv’s intent to keep its core concerns squarely on the table.
At a closed meeting with Russia’s business elite last week, President Vladimir Putin reiterated his demand that Ukraine cede the entire Donbas as part of any settlement, people familiar with the discussion said. Moscow has repeatedly insisted that Ukrainian forces withdraw even from areas still under Kyiv’s control — a condition Ukrainian leaders have rejected.
Zelenskyy, while publicly opposing territorial concessions, has floated alternatives, including the possibility of designating disputed areas as a free economic zone. The United States has explored that idea as a compromise, though how such an arrangement would work in practice remains unclear.
Ukraine’s delegation arrived in Florida late Saturday, Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsya said in a post on X, sharing a photograph of an aircraft bearing Trump’s name. “Good evening, Florida!” he wrote.
Reuters reported that Zelenskyy told Axios he hopes to soften a U.S. proposal that would require Ukrainian forces to fully withdraw from the Donbas. If no changes are made, Zelenskyy said the entire 20-point peace framework — the product of weeks of negotiations — should be put to a nationwide referendum. Axios said U.S. officials viewed that willingness as a significant shift, though Zelenskyy stressed Russia would first need to agree to a 60-day ceasefire to allow such a vote. Recent polling suggests Ukrainian voters could still reject the plan.
While Kyiv and Washington agree on much of the framework, Zelenskyy said Friday that it is only about 90% complete, with territorial questions unresolved. Ukraine favors freezing lines roughly where they are, while Moscow demands far broader gains. Putin said Dec. 19 that any deal must include Ukraine withdrawing from the Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions and formally abandoning its bid to join NATO.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and now controls, by its own estimates, about 12% of Ukraine’s territory, including most of Donbas and large parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, along with smaller sections of other regions. Ukrainian and European leaders describe the war as an imperial-style land grab and warn that conceding to Moscow could embolden future aggression against NATO states.
Zelenskyy’s Florida meeting follows a flurry of diplomacy with Western allies. Speaking Saturday in Halifax alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Zelenskyy said Russia’s overnight attacks showed Moscow was not seeking peace. Carney said any settlement “requires a willing Russia” and announced an additional C$2.5 billion ($1.83 billion) in Canadian economic aid.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after consultations with Zelenskyy and other leaders that their shared goal remained “a just and lasting peace” that safeguards Ukraine’s sovereignty while strengthening its defenses. Zelenskyy said he plans to brief European leaders again after concluding talks with Trump.
Beyond immediate negotiations, analysts say the meeting carries broader implications. Trump has cast himself as a “candidate of peace,” yet European officials worry that pressure for a rapid settlement could shift the burden of Ukraine’s long-term security and reconstruction onto Europe. With Russian forces still advancing in parts of eastern Ukraine, Kyiv sees the Florida talks as a test of whether diplomacy can keep pace with events on the battlefield — or be overtaken by them.
Reuters
