Crucial meeting between Zelensky and Trump in Florida. Before arriving in the US, the Ukrainian leader revealed what is priority-zero for him

Ukraine's future depends on Western security guarantees, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters on Saturday as he headed to Florida for a key meeting with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, and to discuss the latest peace plan, Ukrainian publication The Kyiv Independent writes.

Security guarantees for Ukraine will be at the forefront of these talks, Zelensky said. Without them, Ukraine cannot take any step towards peace and cannot organize presidential elections, the leader from Kiev also stated, in the context in which the Trump administration is constantly pressuring him, recently, to organize such an election.

“If the American side raises the question of a referendum or elections, this cannot happen in the conditions we live in today, especially with regard to airstrikes,” Zelenskiy said, adding that he was “politically ready” to hold elections.

“I'm not clinging to my chair,” Zelenskiy said, answering questions from journalists on a WhatsApp group run by his press service.

Before arriving in the United States, Zelenskiy stopped in Canada to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and hold an online meeting with European and NATO leaders.

Meeting with Trump in Florida

Zelensky and Trump will meet on Sunday evening in Florida to put together the latest plan to end the war in Ukraine, as they face major differences on crucial issues and Kiev must face the challenges of intensifying Russian airstrikes, Reuters news agency also notes.

On Saturday, Russia heavily bombarded Kiev and other war-torn parts of Ukraine with hundreds of missiles and drones, cutting off electricity and heat in some areas of the capital. Zelenski later in the day charged that the attack was Russia's response to US-mediated peace efforts and described it as “sick activity” by the Russians.

In the discussion on the WhatsApp group, Zelenskiy also told reporters that he plans to discuss the fate of the Donbas province in eastern Ukraine, which is at the center of territorial disputes, during the meeting with Trump, which will take place at the residence of the US president in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, as well as the future of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, and other topics.

The Ukrainian president and his delegation arrived in Florida on Saturday evening, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Serhii Kyslytsya announced in a message on the X social network.

“Good evening, Florida!” Kyslytsya wrote, accompanying the post with a photo of a plane with the US president's last name inscribed on the fuselage.

Good evening Florida! pic.twitter.com/u80obRknFQ

— Sergiy Kyslytsya 🇺🇦 (@SergiyKyslytsya) December 27, 2025

Moscow has repeatedly insisted that Ukraine cede all of Donbas (a province made up of Donetsk and Luhansk regions), even areas still under Kiev's control, and Russian officials have opposed other parts of the latest peace proposal, raising doubts that Russian President Vladimir Putin would accept any outcome of Sunday's talks.

The Ukrainian president told the American publication Axios on Friday that he still hopes to modify the US proposal that Ukrainian forces withdraw completely from Donbas. Otherwise, Zelenski said the entire 20-point plan, the result of recent weeks of negotiations, should be put to a referendum.

Axios wrote that U.S. officials saw Zelenskiy's willingness to hold a referendum as an important step forward and a sign that he no longer rules out territorial concessions, though he said Russia would have to agree to a 60-day truce to allow Ukraine to prepare for and hold such a vote. A recent poll suggests Ukrainian voters may also reject the plan.

Zelenskiy's one-on-one meeting with Trump, originally scheduled for 18:00 GMT (22:00 Romanian time), follows weeks of diplomatic efforts. The latest information from the White House on Sunday morning shows that the meeting was brought forward by two hours (20:00 Romanian time).

European allies, though sometimes excluded from the talks, have stepped up efforts to outline a post-war security guarantee for Kiev that would be supported by the United States.

Territorial issues remain unresolved

Kiev and Washington agreed on many issues, and Zelensky said on Friday that the 20-point plan was 90 percent complete. But the issue of the territory that will be ceded to Russia, if it will be the case, remains unresolved.

While Moscow insists on getting the entire territory of Donbas, Kiev wants the map to remain frozen on the current battle lines.

The United States, seeking a compromise, has proposed a free economic zone if Ukraine withdraws from the zone, although it remains unclear how the zone would work in practical terms.

Zelenskiy, whose previous meetings with Trump have not always gone smoothly, fears, along with his European allies, that Trump could “sell out” Ukraine and leave European powers footing the bill for supporting a devastated nation after Russian forces seize between 12 and 17 square kilometers a day of Ukrainian territory in 2025.

Russia controls the entire Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014, and since the invasion began nearly four years ago, has taken control of about 12 percent of Ukraine's territory, including about 90 percent of Donbas, 75 percent of Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, and parts of Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, according to Russian estimates.

Putin said on December 19 that, in his view, a peace deal should be based on the conditions he set in 2024: Ukraine's full withdrawal from Donbas, Zaporozhye and Kherson, and Kiev's formal abandonment of its goal of joining NATO.

Ukrainian officials and European leaders see the war as an imperialist territorial grab by Moscow and have warned that if Russia succeeds in imposing its will on Ukraine, it will one day attack NATO members.

The 20-point plan was derived from a Russian-backed 28-point plan that emerged from talks between US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev and was made public in November.

Subsequent talks between Ukrainian officials and US negotiators led to the development of the current 20-point plan, more favorable to Kiev.

Canada and European allies are rallying behind Kiev

Saturday's airstrikes show that Putin does not want peace, Zelenski told reporters after arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

In a brief statement alongside Zelenskiy, Carney said peace “requires a Russia willing to accept it”.

“The barbarity we saw overnight – the attack on Kiev – shows how important it is to stand with Ukraine in these difficult times,” Carney said, pledging C$2.5 billion (US$1.83 billion) in additional economic aid to Ukraine.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who held talks with Zelenskiy along with other European leaders on Saturday, said their shared goal remains “a just and lasting peace” that preserves Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity while strengthening the country's security and defense capabilities.

Zelenski announced that he will talk again with European leaders after the meeting with Trump.