Trump said he believed the meeting was going to go well, while he expected to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin “soon, as much as I want”.
Territorial issues remain a hurdle to negotiations moving forward.
“As for the sensitive issues: We will discuss both Donbas and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. We will certainly discuss other issues as well,” Zelensky said as he unveiled the agenda for the meeting.
Moscow demands that Ukraine withdraw from the parts of the eastern Donetsk region that Russian troops have failed to occupy during almost four years of war, as it seeks full control of the Donbas, comprising the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Kyiv wants the fighting to be halted at the current lines.
The US, seeking a compromise, proposed a free economic zone if Ukraine leaves parts of the Donetsk region. The proposal gave no details on how the zone would function.
Zelensky was cited by Axios as saying that if he was not able to push the US to back Ukraine’s “strong” position on the land issue, he is willing to put the 20-point plan to a referendum – as long as Russia agrees to a 60-day ceasefire to allow Ukraine to prepare for and hold the vote.
He said any deal would have to be put to a public vote because he did not have the power to force through a peace deal, London’s Telegraph reported. A nationwide referendum would be like Brexit, Zelensky said – except on a tighter timeline and in a war-torn country.
Trump, who has at times expressed frustration with the slow pace of progress in the negotiations, previously suggested that he would meet with Zelensky if he felt that a major diplomatic advance was possible.
European leaders might join the talks online, according to Zelensky.
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On Friday, he discussed preparations for the Sunday meeting and progress in talks with some European leaders, including NATO chief Mark Rutte and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who is seen as close to Trump.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Kyiv’s version of the 20-point plan was radically different from what Russia has been discussing with the US, according to Interfax-Russia.
He added, however, that: “I think that 25 December 2025 will remain in our memory as a turning point, when we came closer, indeed closer, to a solution.”
Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, spoke with members of the Trump administration after Moscow received US proposals about a possible peace deal, the Kremlin said on Friday. It did not disclose how Moscow viewed the documents.
Russia’s Kommersant newspaper reported that Putin told some of Russia’s top businessmen that he might be open to swapping some territory controlled by Russian forces elsewhere in Ukraine, but that in exchange he wanted the whole of the Donbas.
Even as the talks proceeded, Russia continued hammering Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and stepped up attacks on the southern region of Odesa, the site of Ukraine’s main seaports. On Friday, a Russian attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv killed two people.
Zelensky said he planned to raise with Trump the issue of placing additional pressure on Russia.
Reuters
