KYIV, Dec 26 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will discuss territorial issues, the main stumbling block in talks to end the war, with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday, as a 20-point peace framework and a security guarantees deal near completion.
Announcing the meeting, Zelenskiy said that “a lot can be decided before the New Year,” as Washington continues to drive efforts to end Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine, Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two.
“As for the sensitive issues: we will discuss both Donbas and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. We will certainly discuss other issues as well,” he told reporters in a WhatsApp chat.
Russia wants Ukraine to withdraw from the parts of the eastern Donetsk region that its troops have failed to occupy during almost four years of war, as it seeks full control of the Donbas, comprising the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Kyiv wants fighting to be halted at current battle lines.
The U.S., seeking a compromise, proposed a free economic zone if Ukraine leaves the area. It remained unclear how that zone would function in practical terms.
Territorial issues remain a hurdle to negotiations moving forward. Any compromises on territory should be decided by the Ukrainian people in a potential referendum, Zelenskiy said.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s biggest, is located on the front line and controlled by Russian forces.
LEADERS TO REFINE DETAILS IN US MEETING
Zelenskiy added his meeting with Trump aimed to “refine things” in the drafts and discuss potential deals on Ukraine’s economy.
He said he was not ready to say if any deal would be signed during his visit, but Ukraine was open to it.
A security guarantees agreement between Ukraine and the U.S. was “almost ready” and the 20-point plan draft was at 90% completion, Zelenskiy added.
Wary of failed guarantees from allies in the past, Ukraine is seeking robust and legally-binding deals to prevent any further Russian aggression.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump, who has at times expressed frustration with the slow pace of progress in the negotiations, previously suggested that he would meet with Zelenskiy if he felt that a major diplomatic advance was possible.
European leaders might join the talks online, according to Zelenskiy. On Friday, he discussed “significant progress” in peace efforts with Finland’s President Alexander Stubb.
RUSSIAN DEMANDS
It was not clear which peace plan proposals Moscow would be willing to accept.
Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, spoke with members of the Trump administration after Moscow received U.S. proposals about a possible peace deal, the Kremlin said on Friday.
When asked how Moscow viewed the documents, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he did not want to comment as Russia felt making remarks in public could undermine the negotiations.
Russia’s Kommersant newspaper reported that Putin told some of Russia’s top businessmen that he might be open to swapping some territory controlled by Russian forces elsewhere in Ukraine, but that in exchange he wanted the whole of the Donbas.
Even as the talks proceeded, Russia continued hammering Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and stepped up attacks on the southern region of Odesa, the site of Ukraine’s main seaports. On Friday, a Russian attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv killed two.
Zelenskiy said he planned to raise the issue of placing additional pressure on Russia with Trump.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa in Kyiv and Dmitry Antonov in Moscow, additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt Palm Beach; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Joe Bavier, Alexandra Hudson)
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