Zelensky in Florida for peace talks with Trump

PALM BEACH, Florida — Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and United States President Donald Trump would meet in Florida on Sunday to hammer out a plan to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but face major differences on crucial issues.

Russia struck Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine with hundreds of missiles and drones on Saturday, knocking out power and heat in parts of the capital.

Zelensky called it Russia's response to the continuing US-brokered peace efforts. He told journalists that he plans to discuss the fate of the eastern Donbas region during his meeting at Trump's Florida residence, as well as the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and other topics.

The Ukrainian president and his delegation arrived in Florida late on Saturday, Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya said in a post on X.

Moscow has repeatedly insisted that Ukraine yield all of the Donbas, and Russian officials have objected to other parts of the latest proposal, sparking doubts about whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would accept whatever Sunday's talks might produce.

Putin said on Dec 19 that he thought a peace deal should be based on conditions he set out last year: Ukraine withdrawing from all of the Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and Kyiv officially renouncing its aim to join the NATO military alliance.

"If the authorities in Kyiv don't want to settle this business peacefully, we'll resolve all the problems before us by military means," Putin said on Saturday.

He was also quoted by state news agency TASS as saying that "the leaders of the Kyiv regime are in no hurry to resolve this conflict peacefully".

Zelensky told Axios on Friday that he still hopes to soften a US proposal for Ukrainian forces to withdraw completely from Donbas. Failing that, Zelensky said the entire 20-point plan — the result of weeks of negotiations — should be put to a referendum vote.

Axios reported that US officials viewed Zelensky's willingness to hold a referendum as a major step forward and a sign that he was no longer ruling out territorial concessions, though he said Russia would need to agree to a 60-day ceasefire to allow Ukraine to prepare for and hold such a vote. A recent poll suggested that Ukrainian voters may also reject the plan.

Diplomatic efforts

Zelensky's in-person meeting with Trump, scheduled for 1 pm (1800 GMT), follows weeks of diplomatic efforts. European allies, while at times cut out of the loop, have stepped up efforts to sketch out the contours of a post-conflict security guarantee for Kyiv that would be supported by the United States.

During a stopover in Canada on Saturday, Zelensky said he hoped the Florida talks would be "very constructive". He held a conference call with European leaders who, according to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, pledged their full support for his peace efforts.

Russia has accused Ukraine and its European backers of trying to "torpedo" the US-brokered plan. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told state news agency TASS that Moscow would continue its "engagement with US negotiators" but criticized Europeans.

"After the change of administration in the US, Europe and the European Union have become the main obstacle to peace," he said.

"They are making no secret of their plans to prepare for war with Russia."

Kyiv and Washington have agreed on many issues, and Zelensky said on Friday that the 20-point plan was 90 percent finished. However, the issue of what territory, if any, will be ceded to Russia remains unresolved. While Moscow insists on getting all of the Donbas, Kyiv wants the map frozen at current battle lines.

The US, seeking a compromise, has proposed a free economic zone if Ukraine leaves the area, though it remains unclear how that zone would function in practical terms. Zelensky, whose past meetings with Trump have not always gone smoothly, worries along with his European allies that Trump could sell out Ukraine and leave European powers to foot the bill for supporting a devastated country.

The 20-point plan was spun off from a Russian-led 28-point plan, which emerged from talks between US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev, and which became public last month.

Subsequent talks between Ukrainian officials and US negotiators have produced the more Kyiv-friendly 20-point plan.

Agencies Via Xinhua