Ukrainians in Florida have simple advice for Donald Trump. They want peace, not surrender
Palm trees sway in the breeze, Secret Service agents are everywhere, and the security fate of the West – at least for one afternoon – shifts from the White House Situation Room to the gilded confines of Mar-a-Lago.
On Sunday afternoon, President Donald Trump is scheduled to host Volodymyr Zelensky at his private residence in Palm Beach. This is a meeting of great importance that Kiev is counting on – it is intended to provide American security guarantees and chart a realistic path to ending Russia's war against Ukraine. Every detail of this visit is planned. The future of Ukraine is at stake.
Just 24 hours before the meeting, Moscow launched one of its largest air attacks in months — 559 drones and missiles were detected on the territory of Ukraine, and the greatest losses were suffered by Kyiv and the surrounding area.
This storm of attacks left more than 500,000 people without power, heating and water. families, in what one Western diplomat privately described as a “kinetic veto” — Putin's brutal reminder that peace talks without Moscow's involvement come at a cost. The choice of the moment was not accidental. Zelensky himself called the attack Russia's “response” to diplomatic efforts.
The article continues below the video
Sunday's meeting became the axis of the weekend in which West Palm Beach turns into a temporary center for wartime diplomacy.
“My hometown has been occupied since 2014.”
As motorcades make their way to Mar-a-Lago, a few miles away, at the foot of the Southern Boulevard Bridge connecting West Palm Beach to Palm Beach, another form of diplomacy will unfold. Around noon, the Ukrainian Association of Florida, in cooperation with leaders of the local diaspora, organizes a peaceful demonstration with 50 to 200 people expected.
If access to the bridge is restricted, demonstrators will gather at its western end. Their message is clear and deliberately formulated in legal language: peace, not surrender.
Dmytro Bozhko, founder of the Ukrainian Association of Florida, whose hometown of Donetsk has been under Russian occupation since 2014, says that the purpose of the demonstration is to clearly emphasize that any agreement must be consistent with international law.
— The point is that we cannot break the law, Bozhko says in an interview with the Kyiv Post. – It's already been written down. Everyone has already signed it. Recognized borders, territorial integrity, international agreements. This is nothing new.
The demonstrators' demands included: a legally binding US-Ukraine Mutual Defense Treaty, the immediate return of approximately 20,000 abducted Ukrainian children and a solution that does not recognize the legality of Russia's occupation of Ukrainian lands.
Security guarantees, as Bożko emphasizes, are non-negotiable. — We cannot trust Russia – he emphasizes and adds: – My hometown has been occupied since 2014. We have already seen many treaties and agreements with Russia, and they have broken every one when there was no proper enforcement. They won't do anything.
Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's private residence in West Palm Beach, FloridaEPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH / PAP
Bozhko describes the Ukrainian community in Florida as mobilized but fearful. Many local Ukrainians, as they note, is hesitant to take part in public demonstrations due to the uncertain immigration situation. “They're afraid of being seen,” he admits. — It may not be as dramatic as the war in Ukraine, but it is important for people here.
Nevertheless, in his opinion, silence is no longer an option. Especially when global diplomacy is happening just around the corner. “It's not what we wanted,” Bozhko says of West Palm Beach's role as a center for diplomacy around Ukraine. “But since we're here, we can't just sit and watch. We must act. We need to help decision makers see what is the right decision.
And from Trump's point of view, the request should be exceptionally easy to fulfill. – All we ask for, says Bożko, is to do what is right and obey the law.
Americans, Ukrainians and the “European digital front”
The list of participants reads like a cross between a corporate takeover and a war cabinet. On the American side, Trump will be accompanied by two trusted negotiators: Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, a special envoy who discreetly handled confidential international affairs for the US president. Other members of the administration are also expected to join the meeting, although officials declined to reveal the full list of those present.
On the other side of the table, Zelensky showed up with a strong team. His delegation included Chief Negotiator Rustem Umerov, Minister of Economy Oleksiy Sobolev, Deputy Head of the Chancellery of the President Andriy Hnatov and other key advisers, emphasizing that this is not just a symbolic visitbut a working session with real legal, economic and military consequences.
However, key participants may not be physically present in the room. Zelensky plans to connect with the “European digital front” — as Ukrainian officials put it — via videoconference with Mar-a-Lago.
European leaders during a conversation with Donald Trump. Washington, August 18, 2025The Presidential Office of Ukraine / PAP
The leaders expected remotely include: Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk, Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz, President of France Emmanuel Macron, Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. The message from Europe to Trump is clear: Ukraine does not negotiate in a vacuumand Europe intends to be a full participant in what will result in Palm Beach.
20 points for a safe Ukraine
The main axis of the talks is the 20-point Ukrainian plan, which, according to Zelensky, is “90% ready.” The goal for Sunday is closing the remaining issues and presenting a coherent package to Washingtonwhich – at least in theory – could then be presented to Moscow.
Zelensky singled out five key pillars of the bilateral meeting: American security guarantees, European security guarantees, the so-called a prosperity package for Ukraine, the military situation on the front and a step-by-step schedule for implementing possible arrangements. The prosperity package includes proposals for post-war reconstruction, long-term investments and a potential U.S.-Ukraine free trade agreement.
The security component remains the most sensitive: Kyiv demands ironclad guarantees that would fall between NATO membership and a bilateral Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States.
Ukrainian officials claim that several bilateral agreements are already ready and could be signed even on Sundayalthough Zelensky is cooling down expectations. – I can't say now whether something will be finalized then – he said on Friday. When asked directly whether he was ready to sign an agreement with the US, Zelensky replied briefly: — Yes.
The results of Sunday's talks, Ukrainian officials say, will then be communicated to Russia. However, this method of action raises skepticism among politicians and analystswho claim that Moscow is unlikely to respect arrangements that it did not co-create.
“Peace does not consist in one party agreeing something with a third party”
Not everyone believes that the agreement reached in Palm Beach will survive the winter in Donbas. Brian Fitzpatrick, a congressman from Pennsylvania and co-chair of the bipartisan group on Ukraine, issued an unequivocal warning on Saturday as missiles fell on Kiev.
“A serious peace cannot be built on trust in a tyrant who has never kept his word,” Fitzpatrick wrote on the X platform, arguing that any agreement without enforcement mechanisms only means “postponing the next phase” of the war.
Yuri Bojechko, founder and president of the humanitarian organization Hope for Ukraine, is even more blunt describes the proposed agreement as a “political abstraction”until Putin not only joins the talks, but actually intensifies the conflict.
— Peace is not about one side agreeing something with a third party, Bojeczko emphasizes in an interview with “Kyiv Post”. — As long as Russia carries out the heaviest attacks in months, gives a clear signal that it does not intend to respect the agreementwhich she did not sign herself.
Zelensky comes to Florida looking for a partner, a guarantor and a barrier against Russian revisionism. Trump, as Trump always does, clearly declares that he wants to gain something and lead to a conversation with Putin. “I expect to talk to him soon, whenever I want.” Trump told local media on Friday.
Donald Trump, president of the United States, leaves his golf club in a limousine. West Palm Beach, December 27, 2025JIM WATSON / AFP
Whether this conversation leads to deterrence or concessions may define not only the future of Ukraine, but also the security order in Europe. Zelensky is looking for guarantees, Trump wants to negotiate a deal, and Putin is counting on capitulation. Only one of them will be fully satisfied after the meeting at Mar-a-Lago.
