On the eve of the meeting with Trump, on the night of December 27, the aggressor country of the Russian Federation attacked Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles. Zelensky called this Moscow’s response to the peace talks being mediated by the United States.
Before the negotiations in the United States, the Ukrainian president named the “red lines” for Ukraine – the territory and the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant. The issue of security guarantees is also important for Ukraine, Zelensky told Ukrainian journalists.
At the same time, Moscow has repeatedly demanded that Ukraine give up the entire Donbass, including territories under the control of the defense forces. According to media reports, at a closed meeting on December 24, illegitimate Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the issue of ownership of the Kramatorsk-Konstantinovsko-Slavyansk node was “not being discussed.”
As Reuters emphasized, this raises doubts whether Putin will accept the results of the negotiations in Florida between Zelensky and Trump.
Zelensky previously said that he hoped to soften the US proposal for a complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbass, otherwise the 20-point “peace plan” would have to be put to a referendum.
Ukraine and the United States have agreed on 90% of the points of the “peace plan,” Zelensky noted on December 26. However, the territorial issue remains unresolved. The President promised that at the meeting in the United States “all issues on which there are disagreements” will be raised by the Ukrainian side.
As Reuters pointed out, Zelensky, whose previous meetings with Trump have not always gone smoothly, shares European leaders' fears that the US president “might betray Ukraine” by leaving European states to foot the bill for supporting the war-ravaged country.
The agency recalled that on December 19, Putin said that the peace agreement should be based on the conditions that he put forward in 2024: the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from all territories of Donbass, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, as well as Ukraine’s refusal to join NATO.
Ukrainian officials and European leaders have warned that if Russia's occupying power succeeds in its war against Ukraine, it could one day attack NATO members.
On December 28, it became known that Trump’s meeting with Zelensky at the Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida would take place earlier than planned. The Ukrainian president is already in the United States.
Context
The presidents of Ukraine and America have already met this year at the White House (in February, August and October), as well as in New York, Rome and The Hague. This will be their first meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence.
Negotiations on peace in Ukraine, which the United States is conducting separately with Ukraine and separately with the aggressor country Russia, are characterized in Washington as “constructive” and “productive.” However, this opinion is not shared in Moscow.
On December 23, Zelensky announced to journalists 20 points of the “basic document on the end of the war.”
Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov said that the presented document is “radically different” from the version that Moscow discussed with Washington.
Announcing a meeting with Trump, which will take place on December 28 in Florida, Zelensky told reporters that guarantees for the security and restoration of Ukraine will be discussed at the meeting. Zelensky did not rule out that bilateral agreements could be signed following the meeting.
Trump believes that there is a “good chance” of making peace between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
