Zelensky to Meet Trump Soon to End War with Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will soon meet US leader Donald Trump as part of efforts to bring an end to the war.

“We have agreed on a meeting at the highest level with President Trump in the near future. Much can be decided before the new year,” Zelensky said on his Telegram channel. According to Axios, the meeting may be held on Sunday, December 28 at Mar-a-Lago.

Ukraine’s mediator Rustem Umerov, Zelensky explained, has “regular contacts with the American side. We are not wasting a single day. Glory to Ukraine!” the president wrote.

Umerov, the secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, briefed Zelensky on his most recent contacts with the American side held in Miami, as Ukraine revealed the 20 points of a peace plan agreed with Washington.

Zelensky also said he had spoken by phone for nearly an hour with White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, a conversation that produced “new ideas in terms of formats, meetings, and… timing on how to bring a real peace closer”. Zelensky also said he had asked Witkoff and Kushner to pass along Christmas greetings to US President Donald Trump “and the entire Trump family”.

The updated Ukrainian proposal, presented on Wednesday, would offer Russia the potential withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the east of the country and the creation of a demilitarised zone in their place. According to Zelensky, the plan now includes security guarantees from the United States, NATO and European countries for a coordinated military response if Russia were to invade Ukraine again.

On the key issue of the eastern industrial Donetsk region, Zelensky said a “free economic zone” was a possible option, but stressed that any area from which Ukrainian troops withdrew would still have to be policed by Ukrainian authorities.

Moscow currently controls about 75% of the Donetsk region and roughly 99% of neighbouring Luhansk. Together, these areas are known as Donbas. Zelensky has come under heavy pressure from Trump to cede the entire Donbas to Russia.