Ukrainian President Zelensky meets Trump at Mar-a-Lago to secure US approval for a 20-point peace plan, following a major Russian attack on Kyiv
PALM BEACH: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet US President Donald Trump on Sunday to seek his approval for a new proposal to end the war with Russia.
The 20-point plan, negotiated between the US and Ukraine, has not been approved by Moscow. The meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence follows a massive Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv.
Zelensky said he hoped the talks would be “very constructive”. He stated the Russian assault showed that President Vladimir Putin “doesn’t want peace”.
The plan would stop the war along current front lines and could require Ukrainian troop pullbacks to create demilitarised buffer zones. It represents Kyiv’s clearest acknowledgement yet of potential territorial concessions.
However, it does not require Ukraine to withdraw from the 20% of the Donetsk region it still controls, which is a key Russian demand. Trump has been non-committal, telling Politico that Zelensky “doesn’t have anything until I approve it”.
Security guarantees for Ukraine will be a key focus. “Security guarantees must be simultaneous with the end of the war,” Zelensky stressed during a stopover in Canada.
He added that Ukraine needs confidence “that Russia will not start aggression again”. European leaders pledged their full support for Zelensky’s peace efforts during a conference call on Saturday.
EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa vowed unwavering backing for Ukraine and continued pressure on the Kremlin. Russia has accused Ukraine and its European backers of trying to “torpedo” a previous US-brokered plan.
Trump has made ending the Ukraine and Gaza wars a centrepiece of his second term. He has repeatedly voiced frustration with both sides for failing to secure a truce.
The latest Russian attack involved 500 drones and 40 missiles, knocking out power and heating for hundreds of thousands in freezing temperatures. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced CAN$2.5 billion in fresh economic assistance for Ukraine’s post-war rebuild.
