Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is arriving today at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, where he will meet with former U.S. President Donald Trump. Ahead of the meeting, Zelensky received strong support from the leaders of Europe and Canada.
Meeting moved two hours earlier
The White House announced that the time of the meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky has been moved two hours earlier compared to the original plan.
According to the updated schedule, Trump will take part in a bilateral meeting with the Ukrainian president on Sunday at 1 p.m. local Florida time (7 p.m. Central European Time). It had previously been announced that the meeting would take place at 3 p.m.
The meeting will be held in Palm Beach, where Trump’s golf club and his private residence are located.
Trump previously stated in an interview with Politico that no proposal by Volodymyr Zelensky on ending the war in Ukraine would carry weight without his approval, but at the same time assessed that there is a good chance of reaching an agreement.
Talks on ending the war in Ukraine
Zelensky and Trump will meet to discuss a plan to end the war in Ukraine, at a time when the fighting shows no sign of abating. Russia carried out massive attacks on Kyiv and other parts of the country on Saturday, using hundreds of missiles and drones, which caused power outages in parts of the capital.
Zelensky described these attacks as Russia’s response to peace initiatives.
Donbas and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in focus
The Ukrainian president announced that during the meeting he will raise the issues of the fate of Donbas in eastern Ukraine, as well as the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Zelensky and his delegation arrived in Florida late on Saturday, confirmed Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsia.
Moscow has for some time insisted that Ukraine hand over the entire Donbas, including areas that are still under Kyiv’s control. Russian officials have also expressed opposition to other parts of the latest peace proposal, which calls into question the readiness of Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept a potential agreement between Trump and Zelensky.
Possible referendum on the peace plan
Zelensky told the Axios portal on Friday that he still hopes to succeed in softening the U.S. proposal that entails the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Donbas.
If negotiations fail, the entire 20-point peace plan could be put to a referendum. In order for such a vote to be held, Zelensky believes that Russia would have to agree to a 60-day ceasefire.
According to Axios, U.S. officials view Kyiv’s willingness to consider a referendum as a “major step forward” and a signal that Zelensky no longer rules out the possibility of territorial concessions, although polls show that Ukrainian voters could reject the proposed plan.
Disagreements over territory remain a key obstacle
Kyiv and Washington have agreed on most points of the peace plan, and Zelensky stated that about 90 percent of the proposal has already been harmonized. However, the key question – which territory, if any, would be ceded to Russia – remains unresolved.
While Moscow demands control over the entire Donbas, Ukraine proposes freezing the front lines at their current positions. In this context, the United States has proposed the creation of a free economic zone in the event of Ukraine’s withdrawal from the area, but it is still unclear how such a model would function in practice.
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Source: Nova Foto:AP