Zelenskyy to Meet Trump as US Advances Ukraine Peace Efforts
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he will meet with former US President Donald Trump in the coming days, with the potential for significant decisions to be made before the New Year. The US has not officially confirmed this meeting, but journalist Barak Ravid of Axios anticipates it will take place on Sunday at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
This meeting follows recent diplomatic activity in Miami, where Trump’s peace envoy Steve Witkoff engaged in talks with representatives from Russia and Ukraine as well as Jared Kushner. US officials characterized these discussions as constructive, while Moscow minimized any progress.
Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly reiterated demands that Ukraine relinquish control of the entire eastern Donbas region as a condition for any peace agreement. However, the Russian publication Kommersant cited reports suggesting some willingness to consider a limited territorial exchange involving Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Zelenskyy has previously indicated openness to withdrawing heavy military forces from Donbas, provided that Russia reciprocates, as part of a US-backed proposal to establish a free economic zone in the region.
Meanwhile, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov communicated with US representatives about an updated peace proposal but no breakthrough was reported. Russia maintains it will continue fighting to meet its war objectives.
On the battlefield, Ukrainian forces recently succeeded in pushing Russian troops out of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, marking a rare counteroffensive that challenges Moscow’s claims of control in eastern Ukraine.
