Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is set to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday for high-stakes talks aimed at finalising a plan to end the war in Ukraine, even as fresh Russian air attacks underline how fragile the diplomatic push remains.
The meeting comes a day after Russia launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine, knocking out electricity and heating in parts of the capital. Zelenskiy described the strikes as Moscow’s response to U.S.-brokered peace efforts, suggesting Russia was attempting to apply pressure as negotiations intensify.
Zelenskiy has said discussions with Trump will focus on some of the most contentious issues in the conflict, including the future of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region and the fate of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsya confirmed that Zelenskiy and his delegation arrived in Florida late on Saturday, posting a photo on X of an aircraft bearing Trump’s name and writing, “Good evening, Florida!”
The talks take place against a backdrop of deep divisions. Moscow has repeatedly demanded that Ukraine hand over the entire Donbas region, including areas still under Kyiv’s control, and has raised objections to elements of the latest U.S. proposal. These positions have cast doubt on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would ultimately accept any agreement emerging from the Florida meeting.
Zelenskiy told Axios on Friday that he hopes to soften a U.S. proposal calling for a full Ukrainian withdrawal from the Donbas. If that proves impossible, he said the entire 20-point peace plan, developed over weeks of negotiations, should be put to a nationwide referendum. U.S. officials reportedly view Zelenskiy’s openness to a referendum as a significant shift, indicating he is no longer ruling out territorial concessions. However, Zelenskiy has stressed that Russia would first need to agree to a 60-day ceasefire to allow Ukraine to prepare for such a vote, and recent polling suggests Ukrainian voters themselves may reject the plan.
Sunday’s in-person meeting, scheduled for 1 p.m. local time, follows weeks of intense diplomacy. European allies, sometimes sidelined in the process, have stepped up efforts to outline post-war security guarantees for Ukraine that would be backed by the United States.
Despite progress on many fronts, territorial questions remain the main sticking point. Zelenskiy said on Friday that the peace plan is about 90% complete, but Kyiv and Washington have yet to resolve what land, if any, Ukraine would cede to Russia. While Moscow insists on full control of the Donbas, Ukraine wants the front lines frozen at their current positions. The United States has floated the idea of creating a free economic zone if Ukraine withdraws from the area, though details on how such a zone would operate remain unclear.
Zelenskiy and several European leaders fear Trump could push through a deal that leaves Ukraine weakened and shifts the long-term burden of supporting a devastated country onto Europe. Russian forces have continued to make incremental territorial gains in 2025, advancing an estimated 12 to 17 square kilometres per day.
Russia already controls Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, and since its full-scale invasion nearly four years ago has taken roughly 12% of Ukraine’s territory. This includes about 90% of the Donbas, most of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and smaller areas in Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk, according to Russian estimates. Putin said on December 19 that any peace deal should be based on conditions he outlined in 2024, including Ukraine’s withdrawal from Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, and Kyiv formally abandoning its goal of joining NATO.
Ukrainian officials and European leaders see the war as an imperial-style land grab and have warned that conceding to Moscow could embolden Russia to threaten NATO members in the future. The current 20-point plan evolved from an earlier Russian-backed 28-point proposal that emerged from talks involving U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev. Subsequent negotiations between Ukrainian and U.S. officials reshaped it into a version more acceptable to Kyiv.
As diplomacy continues, Western allies have reiterated their support for Ukraine. Zelenskiy said Saturday’s air strikes demonstrated that Putin does not genuinely want peace, speaking after arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he met Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Carney said peace would require “a willing Russia” and condemned the overnight attack on Kyiv as “barbaric,” pledging an additional C$2.5 billion (US$1.83 billion) in economic aid to Ukraine.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after speaking with Zelenskiy and other European leaders that their shared goal remains a “just and lasting peace” that preserves Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity while strengthening its security and defence. Zelenskiy said he plans to brief European leaders again after concluding his talks with Trump.