Trump and Zelensky strike hopeful tone after talks as hurdles remain
The United States will help facilitate Russia-Ukraine talks in January, as Trump called the peace process “very complicated stuff.” Washington Post 29-12-2025
President Donald Trump on Dec. 28 said the U.S. would help facilitate Ukraine-Russia talks in January.
By Isaac Arnsdorf, Siobhán O'Grady and Sammy Westfall
President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday took steps toward agreeing on a proposal to end Russia’s invasion, but difficult sticking points remain to be resolved and it’s unclear if Russia would agree to their recommendations.
The leaders, who met Sunday at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, said talks involving the three countries would continue in January. Trump, Zelensky and European leaders all praised Sunday’s progress, despite the absence of a clear breakthrough.
“This is not a one-day-process deal. This is very complicated stuff,” Trump said of the negotiations, which earlier on Sunday he called “pretty complex, but not that complex.”
He later said that the two “made a lot of progress” on ending the war, and that he believes they’re “far closer than ever before.”
During a joint news conference with Zelensky, Trump cited “one or two” unresolved problems that he didn’t specify.
One appeared to be the future of the Donbas region of Ukraine, which is largely occupied by Russian forces. Last month, Ukraine rejected Russia’s demand to pull troops from parts of the region to create a demilitarized zone. Now, Zelensky is proposing that both sides withdraw from the area to create an economic free zone with international troops and monitors.
“The word ‘agreement’ is too strong,” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question about the zone. “I would say not ‘agreed,’ but we’re getting closer to an agreement on that. And that’s a big issue.”
Zelensky noted the United States and Ukraine were “100 percent agreed” on security guarantees against future Russian aggression, with some final work remaining on an economic plan for rebuilding the country. He did not address some of the other asks in a 20-point proposal he brought with him to Mar-a-Lago, such as a date for admission to the European Union and a pledge for European military aid.
“Paramount to this effort is to have ironclad security guarantees from day one,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on X after her one-hour call with Trump and Zelensky, which also included leaders from France, Finland, Poland, Norway, Italy, Britain, Germany and NATO.
This time, Zelensky presented a 20-point plan that he said the United States has already mostly agreed to. Under the draft plan, Ukraine would maintain a peacetime military of 800,000 troops to discourage future attacks; Moscow has said it couldn’t abide such a force. Putin has demanded that Ukraine cede the entire Donbas region; Zelensky has said Ukraine will not give up any territory.
After Russia’s full invasion in 2022, Ukraine applied for NATO membership. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow would view Ukrainian membership as a “direct threat” to Russia and has repeatedly demanded a guarantee that Ukraine never be admitted to the alliance.
Zelensky floated the idea of a future summit in Washington with European leaders. Zelensky previewed that he wanted to use such a meeting to increase pressure on Russia, but he and Trump did not announce anything concrete on Sunday. Trump only said he believes Putin is ready for peace, and tempered his optimism with several cautious notes.
“If things don’t happen, they keep fighting and they keep dying,” Trump said. “In a few weeks, we will know one way or the other, I think.”
Trump said he would be willing to address Ukraine’s parliament, acknowledging that either it or a popular referendum would be needed before any peace plan ceding territory could be concluded.
Trump has cycled through bouts of frustrations with all parties over the past year as the brutal war has defied his promises for peace. And he has had a turbulent relationship with Zelensky ever since the Ukrainian refused Trump’s demands to investigate Joe Biden in 2018, leading to Trump’s first impeachment.
But on Sunday, he praised Zelensky as “brave” and also complimented European leaders whom he has at other times accused of mistreating the U.S. on issues of trade or military spending.
Before the meeting, Trump on Sunday brushed off concerns that Putin, who started the war by invading Ukraine in 2022, wasn’t serious about peace as his forces pounded the Ukrainian capital this weekend.
At least four people were killed and 30 wounded in Russian attacks on Friday and Saturday, Ukrainian authorities said. An assault on Kyiv’s energy grid early Saturday knocked out heat in a third of the capital, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said, and caused widespread power cuts.
Trump called Putin ahead of his meeting with Zelensky on Sunday and said he planned to speak with him again afterward.
“President Putin was very generous in his feeling toward Ukraine succeeding, including supplying energy, electricity and other things at very low prices,” Trump said during the news conference. “Russia is going to be helping. Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed.”
Over the first 10 months of his presidency, Donald Trump has set and ignored half a dozen deadlines for ending the war in Ukraine.
After little to show for previous summits — with Putin in Alaska in August, and Zelensky in Washington in October — Trump waved off any more in-person meetings until he viewed a resolution as closer to fruition. Last month’s unsuccessful push centered on a proposal that Witkoff drafted in close collaboration with the Russian side.
This time, Zelensky presented a 20-point plan that he said the United States has already mostly agreed to. Under the draft plan, Ukraine would maintain a peacetime military of 800,000 troops to discourage future attacks; Moscow has said it couldn’t abide such a force. Putin has demanded that Ukraine cede the entire Donbas region; Zelensky has said Ukraine will not give up any territory.
As Trump has wavered between the two sides, Zelensky has relied on European leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, for more consistent support. Ahead of his meeting with Trump, Zelensky flew to Canada to meet Prime Minister Mark Carney, who announced a new round of $1.8 billion in assistance to Ukraine.
Macron on Sunday said Ukraine’s allies — which he called the “countries of the Coalition of the Willing” — will meet in Paris in early January to finalize each country’s concrete contributions.
Putin has repeatedly rejected proposals for ceasefires and refused to meet with Zelensky, who he claims is an illegitimate leader. Since launching the war, he has shown no interest in moving off his core demands, including the seizure of large swaths of Ukraine.
Natalia Abbakumova, Matthew Hay Brown, Niha Masih and Kelly Kasulis Cho contributed to this report.
