By The White House
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed plans to meet US President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday, as diplomatic efforts accelerate to bring an end to Russia’s nearly three-year-long full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Zelensky said the talks would centre on a US-brokered peace initiative and separate proposals related to American security guarantees for Ukraine. However, a senior Russian official cautioned that the plan under discussion differed significantly from the framework Russia has been negotiating directly with Washington.
The Kremlin has yet to respond publicly to Zelensky’s suggestion that Ukrainian forces could withdraw from parts of the eastern Donbas region if Russia agrees to pull back its troops as well.
Meanwhile, fighting on the ground continued. At least five people were injured in Kyiv overnight during a renewed wave of Russian air strikes, according to the city’s mayor. Another person was wounded elsewhere in the surrounding Kyiv region. Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said Ukraine’s air defence systems were actively intercepting incoming threats, as residents reported hearing explosions across the capital.
Russian attacks persisted into Saturday morning, with Ukraine’s air force issuing nationwide alerts warning of drone and missile threats across the entire country.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and currently controls approximately three-quarters of the Donetsk region and nearly all of neighbouring Luhansk. Together, the two regions form the Donbas, an area that has been at the heart of the conflict.
Ukraine has been pressing for firm security guarantees from the United States as part of any peace settlement. Zelensky has suggested that areas of Donbas not fully occupied by Russian forces could potentially be turned into a demilitarised “free economic zone” as part of a broader compromise.
On Friday, Zelensky told reporters that a 20-point peace plan was nearing completion. “It is about 90% ready,” he said. “Our task now is to ensure it is fully prepared.”
In a social media post, Zelensky wrote that progress was being made rapidly. “We are not losing a single day. We have agreed on a meeting at the highest level – with President Trump in the near future. A great deal can be decided before the new year,” he said.
However, Trump struck a more assertive tone in an interview with Politico published on Friday, saying Zelensky “doesn’t have anything until I approve it.”
“I think it’s going to go good with him,” Trump said, referring to the Ukrainian president. “I think it’s going to go good with [Vladimir] Putin,” he added, saying he expected to speak with the Russian president soon.
Trump also revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to visit him in the coming days. Separately, senior Kremlin officials have continued phone discussions with US counterparts following the return of Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev from talks in Florida last weekend.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov welcomed what he described as positive momentum but accused Ukraine of attempting to undermine negotiations on the US proposal.
“I think December 25, 2025, will remain in our memories as a moment when we truly came close to a solution,” Ryabkov told Russian state television. “Whether we can make the final push depends on our work and on the political will of the other side.”
Shortly after news of Zelensky’s planned Florida visit emerged, the mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, reported that two people had been killed and several others injured in a Russian air strike in the north-eastern region.
Zelensky and Trump have met several times this year. An early meeting at the White House in February was marked by a heated exchange, but their most recent encounter in October was described by officials as significantly more constructive.
Confirmation of the upcoming high-level talks followed Zelensky’s disclosure that he had held a one-hour phone call on Christmas Day with Trump’s chief negotiators, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Zelensky said the discussion had produced “new ideas” and described it as “a really good conversation.”
The White House has proposed the creation of what would effectively be a demilitarised zone in eastern Ukraine, where neither side would deploy troops. The proposal is seen as an attempt to sidestep the contentious issue of legal sovereignty over the disputed territory.
Zelensky indicated earlier this week that Ukraine could withdraw its forces by up to 40 kilometres from the eastern front line to establish an economic zone, provided Russia made a corresponding withdrawal from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine’s industrial Donbas heartland.
Ukraine has also succeeded in revising an earlier 28-point draft plan prepared by Witkoff, which critics had argued was overly favourable to Moscow. Zelensky said discussions in Florida would focus on several key documents, including security guarantees and a separate economic agreement.
Nonetheless, Zelensky has repeatedly acknowledged that territorial issues remain the most difficult obstacle, along with the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, which is currently under Russian control.
Under a White House proposal, Ukraine and Russia would share the electricity generated by the plant. Russia, however, is expected to resist several aspects of the updated plan, particularly those concerning territory. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused unnamed states, “primarily Western European,” of attempting to sabotage diplomatic progress.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has consistently warned that Ukrainian forces must withdraw from all of Donbas or face the prospect of Russia seizing the region entirely, rejecting compromise.
Zelensky publicly outlined the revised peace framework this week for the first time since the original draft was leaked in November.
The latest proposals include commitments from the US and European allies to provide security guarantees modelled on Nato’s Article 5, obliging partners to assist Ukraine militarily if Russia launches another invasion. The plan would also allow Ukraine to maintain an armed force of up to 800,000 troops — a level Russia has demanded be significantly reduced.
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