Summit in Florida. Trump: We have grounds to reach an agreement on Ukraine

I believe that we have the basis for reaching an agreement on Ukraine that will be beneficial to everyone, said US President Donald Trump at the beginning of his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

– I believe that we have the basis for reaching an agreement on Ukraine that will be beneficial for everyone, said Trump, greeting Zelensky before entering the Mar-a-Lago villa. He noted that the talks were in their final stages, but warned that if they failed, the fighting would continue for a long time.

However, Trump assessed that both Ukraine and Russia want peace. Answering a question about whether Russia's recent massive attacks on Ukraine prove that Vladimir Putin is not seriously interested in an agreement, Trump replied that Putin is “very seriously” interested and pointed out that Ukraine is also carrying out its attacks.

– I'm not saying this negatively. “He (Zelensky) didn't tell me about it, but there were several explosions in different parts of Russia and it looks like, I don't know, I don't think it was an attack from Congo,” Trump mocked.

When asked whether he would sign security guarantees for Ukraine on Sunday, the US president said it was a “stupid question” because “nobody knows what the security agreement will say.”

– It will be a strong agreement. And European countries are very involved in this. They will be very involved in protection, etc., he added, praising Europe's attitude.

He also confirmed that he intended to talk to Vladimir Putin again after the talks with Zelensky, and that he and Zelensky would both connect with European leaders during the meeting.

Asked what message he had for Putin during their phone call just before his meeting with Zelensky, Trump said he told the Russian leader that he “had to make a deal because too many people were dying.”

Meanwhile, Zelensky said that the issue of territorial concessions would be discussed during the talks.

– We'll talk about the 20-point plan, that's why we came here. There are 20 points. 90%, by the way, was agreed upon by our two teams. I think they did a great job, a great job. And yes, we will also discuss these (territorial) issues, said the President of Ukraine.

Trump then interjected that Ukraine would benefit greatly from the agreement.

– There is a lot to rebuild, there is a lot of wealth to be gained. And they have enormous potential wealth, he noted.

After a short welcome, members of the Ukrainian and American delegations sat down to lunch in Mar-a-Lago's main dining room. The team from Kiev included, among others: chief negotiators Rustem Umerov and Andriy Hnatov, Minister of Economy Oleksiy Sobolev and the ambassador of Ukraine to the USA Olha Stefanishina. On the American side of the table sat Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, American negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.

The main subject of the talks is to be the 20-point peace plan. He says, among other things: on the potential creation of “free economic zones” in the occupied territories of Ukraine in Donbas, which would constitute a demilitarized zone. Zelensky, however, emphasized that a referendum and at least a 60-day ceasefire were necessary to finalize the plan. Putin's adviser Yuri Ushakov suggested that during Sunday's conversation, Trump agreed with Putin that a ceasefire “only leads to a prolongation of the conflict.”

From Washington Oskar Górzyński (PAP)

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