Zelensky to meet with Trump to discuss peace proposal

2025-12-26 12:34:31Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Zelensky to meet with Trump to discuss peace proposal

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on December 26 that he had agreed to meet with US President Donald Trump "in the near future," as Washington steps up efforts to broker a peace deal between Kiev and Moscow.

Zelensky announced the planned meeting on social media, saying he had received a report from the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, about new contacts with American officials. “We are not wasting a day. We have agreed on a higher-level meeting – with President Trump, in the near future,” Zelensky said, adding that “much can be decided before the New Year.” Trump has not publicly confirmed such a meeting. Zelensky is expected to travel to Florida on December 28 for high-level talks at Mar-a-Lago, sources told the Kyiv Post.

The announcement comes a day after Zelensky said he had a phone call with Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to discuss “good ideas for a lasting peace.” According to Zelensky, the conversation also included Umerov, the Chief of the Armed Forces Staff, Andriy Hnatov, and Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha. “We discussed some key details of the work. There are good ideas that can help achieve a common result and a lasting peace. Real security, real recovery and real peace – these are what we need,” Zelensky wrote.

The developments come as U.S., Ukrainian and European negotiators are working on a 20-point peace framework aimed at ending the war between Ukraine and Russia. The plan, unveiled by Zelensky earlier this week, includes provisions for security guarantees for Ukraine, reconstruction and a roadmap for a cessation of hostilities. Representatives from Russia also took part in U.S.-hosted talks in Miami on Dec. 20-21, although the Kremlin later said the talks could not be seen as making any significant progress.

Bloomberg, citing a source close to the Kremlin, reported that Moscow intends to seek changes to the current 20-point plan to obtain security guarantees against further NATO expansion to the east and to guarantee that Ukraine will maintain neutral status if it joins the European Union. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been briefed on the talks in Miami and that Russia plans to continue contacts with Washington regarding its position in the coming days. Meanwhile, according to Ukrainian officials, Russia has continued to attack Ukraine in recent days, escalating attacks in the southern region of Odessa.

Russian forces fired an Iskander-M missile and 99 attack drones over Ukraine overnight, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. “Today, the enemy attacked our city again,” Serhiy Lysak, head of the Odessa military administration, said on December 26, adding that one drone strike hit an infrastructure target in the city, causing a fire. The Russian strikes overnight damaged ships registered in Slovakia, Palau and Liberia, in the ports of Odessa and Mykolaiv in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators condemned Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian civilians over the Christmas holiday.

“We condemn Russia’s brutal attacks on Kherson, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Odessa, Sumy, Donetsk and Kryvyi Rih against innocent Ukrainians,” the statement said on December 25. “Even for countries at war, there is a long history of truces on Christmas, notably during World War I. Putin’s decision today to carry out attacks instead of a ceasefire is an indication to all of us that Putin is a cruel killer who has no interest in peace and cannot be trusted,” the statement said./REL


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