Volodymyr Zelensky announced the condition for holding a referendum on the peace plan

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Axios on Friday that he hopes to reach an agreement in principle with President Donald Trump on ending the war when they meet on Sunday. Moreover, Zelenksi revealed that he is willing to put this plan to a referendum if Russia agrees to a truce of at least 60 days.

Although Zelenskiy emphasized that important progress has been made, Trump's proposed plan still entails painful territorial concessions for Ukraine in the east. The Ukrainian president hopes to improve those conditions and has said he will have to seek the approval of the Ukrainian people if a “strong” position on the territory is not reached.

The American side considers it a major step forward that Zelenskiy is willing to hold a referendum and that he no longer rules out territorial concessions.

But, Zelenski stressed in the phone interview with Axios, holding such a referendum would involve significant political, logistical and security difficulties. For this reason, he believes that a 60-day truce for the preparation and conduct of the vote “is the minimum necessary.”

A senior US official told Axios that the Russians understand the need for a truce if Zelenskiy calls a referendum, but want a shorter timetable.

Zelensky also said that, for now, it is not clear to him whether Russia is willing to accept Trump's plan. “I have some information from the intelligence services … but I'm at a point where I want to believe only the statements of the leaders,” the Ukrainian president said.

Zelenski spoke to Axios by phone two days before a planned meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

He said most aspects of bilateral agreements between the United States and Ukraine are now settled and have been recorded in five documents, with the possibility of adding a sixth.

Ukraine's president said he would still like to negotiate a more favorable position on the territory. But if the plan requires a “very difficult” decision on the matter, he believes the best way forward would be to put the entire 20-point plan to a referendum. He compared such a vote to the Brexit referendum — with people campaigning hard on both sides of a very complex issue — except the deadline is much tighter and the country is ravaged by war.

The Ukrainian president has repeatedly emphasized the need for a truce to be respected and last at least two months. If people don't show up to vote for security reasons, the result could appear illegitimate, he said.

“It's better not to have a referendum than to have a referendum where people don't have the opportunity to come and vote,” he argued.