President Trump said at the top of his Sunday meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the U.S. is “in the final stages” of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Why it matters: The meeting comes at the height of Trump’s diplomatic push to reach a peace agreement that will end the war in Ukraine.
- Two hours before the meeting with Zelensky, Trump spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed the U.S. peace plan.
Driving the news: Zelensky told Axios on Friday that he hopes to agree on a framework with Trump for ending the war during today’s meeting.
- Zelensky also revealed he’s willing to bring that plan up for a referendum if Russia agrees to a ceasefire of at least 60 days.
- While Zelensky emphasized that significant progress has been made, Trump’s plan still demands painful territorial concessions from Ukraine in the Donbas region, which borders Russia.
- Zelensky is still hoping to improve those terms and said he’ll need to seek approval of the Ukrainian people if they can’t get to a “strong” position on territory.
- Zelensky said a 60-day ceasefire is a minimum for both preparing and holding the referendum and to allow security so Ukrainians may campaign and vote without the threat of attacks. Without it, he said, the result of the vote would be illegitimate.
Behind the scenes: Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters the call was Trump’s initiative and lasted an hour and 15 minutes.
- Ushakov said the call was “in a friendly tone” and noted that Trump listened to Putin’s assessment regarding the peace talks.
- Ushakov claimed Putin and Trump both think Ukraine “needs to make a decision about Donbas without delay.”
- He also claimed that Putin and Trump both think that the temporary ceasefire Ukraine proposes for holding a referendum over the peace plan “will only prolong the conflict.”
What they’re saying: Trump greeted Zelensky Sunday afternoon on the steps of Mar-a-Lago, and told reporters that both the Ukrainian and Putin want a peace deal.
- He stressed that any future peace deal will include strong security guarantees, but offered no specifics on what those might be.
- Trump also said he and Zelensky plan to hold a call with European leaders during their meeting, and that he will call Putin again after the meeting with Zelensky ends.
Source: Trump: Russia and Ukraine peace talks in “final stages”
