US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were “getting much closer, perhaps too close” to an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, although both leaders acknowledged that some of the thornier details have not yet been resolved.
Both spoke in an interview after meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Trump said it will be clear “in a few weeks” whether negotiations to end the war will be successful.
Zelensky stated that an agreement on security guarantees for Ukraine had been reached. Trump was a bit more cautious, saying they were 95% of the way to the deal and that he expected European countries to “take on a big part” of that effort with US support.
Zelensky has previously said he hopes to soften a U.S. proposal for a complete withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, a Russian demand that would mean giving up some Ukrainian-held territory.
Future
Both Trump and Zelensky said in the interview that the future of Donbas has not been resolved.
“It’s not resolved, but it’s getting much closer. This is a very difficult issue,” Trump said.
Shortly before Zelensky and his delegation arrived at Trump’s Florida residence, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone conversation described as “productive” by the US president and “friendly” by Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov.
According to Ushakov, Putin told Trump that a 60-day ceasefire proposed by the European Union and Ukraine would prolong the war. The Kremlin aide said Ukraine needed to make a decision on Donbas “without further delay.”
He added that the Russian government had agreed to establish working groups to resolve the conflict. These groups will focus on economic and security concerns.
