After the meeting in Mar-a-Lago, the two leaders agreed that the US will support promoting trilateral dialogues with Russia in January, despite acknowledging that the peace process is very complex.
Speaking at a joint press conference, Mr. Trump described the negotiations to end the conflict as extremely complex issues, and said that the two sides have made much progress and are closer to an agreement than ever before. However, the US President also frankly said that there are one or two issues that cannot be resolved immediately, but did not specify them.
One of the major bottlenecks believed to be the future of the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine, which is largely controlled by Russian forces. Previously, Kiev rejected Moscow's request to withdraw Ukrainian troops from some areas to establish a demilitarized zone. At this meeting, President Zelensky made a new proposal: Both sides withdraw troops from Donbass to form a free economic zone, with the presence of international forces and monitoring mechanisms.
Answering press questions about this proposal, Mr. Trump said that it cannot be called an agreement yet. "I will not say that I have agreed, but we are getting closer to a consensus. And this is a big deal," the US President said.
For his part, President Zelensky emphasized that the US and Ukraine fully agree on security assurances. He said that the two sides only have to complete some details related to the economic plan to rebuild Ukraine after the conflict. However, the Ukrainian leader did not mention any other requirements in the 20-point proposal he brought to the US, such as the time of joining the European Union (EU) or the commitment to specific military aid from Europe.
This view is also supported by the EU. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, after a 1-hour phone call with Mr. Trump, Mr. Zelensky and leaders of many European countries, emphasized that solid security assurances from the first day are key to any peace effort.
If things don't progress, they will continue to fight and continue to have casualties. In a few weeks, we will know what the outcome will be" - Mr. Trump said. He also said he was ready to speak before the Ukrainian Parliament, while acknowledging that any peace plan related to territorial issues needs approval from the Parliament or through a referendum in Ukraine.
A notable development is that right before the Ukrainian delegation arrived in Mar-a-Lago, President Trump had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr. Trump described the call as "effective", while Kremlin foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov called the phone call "friendly".
According to Mr. Ushakov, President Putin believes that the 60-day ceasefire proposal made by the EU and Ukraine will only prolong the conflict, and emphasized that Kiev needs to make a decision on Donbass soon. Russia also agreed to establish working groups focused on economic and security issues to resolve the conflict.
