Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky is set to meet US President Donald Trump over the weekend to continue negotiations over ending Russia’s all-out war. Zelensky said there would be a meeting on Sunday, which would deal with a 20-point peace initiative brokered by the US, in addition to proposals for a US security guarantee.
On the other hand, the Kremlin reports that negotiations between the presidential aide to Vladimir Putin and US officials took place through a phone conversation. Additionally, it is stated that Russia is committed to the negotiations.
Russia Speaks of Slow Progress in Talks
There has been reported progress in the negotiations, although the Russians have not mentioned the offer by Ukrainian president Zelensky regarding a withdrawal of troops from the area of Donbas if the Russians withdraw their forces too.
The Ukrainian government has been trying to obtain a guarantee from the US within a deal, while Zelensky has proposed that a demilitarised free economic zone could be considered for regions in Donbas that Russia has been unable to capture by force. “Our task is to ensure everything is 100% ready,” said Zelensky on Friday to reporters, noting that their 20-point plan has been 90% finished.
Just hours after information about the talks was released, the mayor of the large northeastern city of Kharkiv, in Ukraine, reported that two people had been killed and several more wounded in a Russian air strike.
The Latest Round of Negotiations Yields Fresh Ideas
Zelensky has had several encounters with Trump this year, following the initial meeting in the White House in February, which ended in a shouting match. The last encounter he had with Trump at the White House was quite friendly.
The fact that top-level talks are to go ahead became known following claims that he had spoken to President Trump’s top negotiators, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, for an hour on Christmas Day. One proposal suggested by the White House is to have a demilitarised zone in eastern Ukraine where neither party would be allowed troops, thus sidestepping the thorny issue of whose land it is by not having to establish conclusively who owns the territory.
Zelenskyy on Wednesday indicated that while there was to be a withdrawal of up to 40km from the front line in eastern Ukraine to form an economic zone, Russia likewise had to withdraw from its occupied areas of the Donbas industrial region of Ukraine.
Changes to the Original Draft Plan Obtained by Ukraine
However, Ukraine has managed to obtain several modifications of an initial draft of 28 points proposed earlier. This strategy was drawn up by Steve Witkoff and was quite beneficial to the Russian side. On Friday, President Zelensky told journalists that negotiations this weekend in Florida would cover multiple documents. Among these would be US security guarantees and an economic agreement.
However, President Zelensky has repeatedly emphasised that the issue of territory has been the most difficult one to solve, in addition to the fate of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The White House has proposed dividing the energy produced by the plant, the biggest in Europe, between Ukraine and Russia. Russian forces are now in control of it.
Several aspects of the revised plan would never be accepted by the Russians, especially with regard to territory. But Putin demanded the full Donbas region and also 25% of the Donetsk Region which it does not occupy.
Another high-ranking aide, Yuri Ushakov, has also had further talks with the White House on the telephone, with further talks set, Peskov said. Zelensky has announced this week an up-to-date version of this plan for the first time since the original 28-point draft leaked in November.
The latest proposals call on America and Europe to offer Russia’s neighbours “security guarantees” similar to the provisions of NATO’s Article 5. This implies that if Russia launches another invasion into its territories, it should offer military support. The US is keen on allying with Russia’s Read more.
The agreement also stipulates that the number of military personnel in Ukraine will be maintained at 800,000, which is what the Kremlin insisted should be reduced. However, fighting and air raids have been ongoing, resulting in losses in the central city of Uman, as well as in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.
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