Zelenskyy to fulfill Trump as efforts to finish Russia-Ukraine conflict stay elusive : NPR

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — President Donald Trump will host his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Sunday to attempt to shut out a peace settlement that might finish practically 4 years of conflict that started with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The 2 will meet at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s personal membership in Palm Seaside, Florida, the place the U.S. president is spending the vacations and has an agenda principally stuffed with each day rounds of golf. Zelenskyy mentioned the 2 deliberate to debate safety and financial agreements and he’ll increase “territorial points” as Moscow and Kyiv stay fiercely at odds over the destiny of the Donbas area in japanese Ukraine.

Within the days earlier than the assembly, Russia has intensified its assaults on Ukraine’s capital, utilizing missiles and drones to assault Kyiv and attempt to enhance the strain on Zelenskyy.

“Ukraine is keen to do no matter it takes to cease this conflict,” Zelenskyy posted Saturday on X. “We should be sturdy on the negotiating desk.”

In response to the assaults, he wrote: “We wish peace, and Russia demonstrates a need to proceed the conflict. If the entire world — Europe and America — is on our aspect, collectively we’ll cease” Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a gathering with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Saturday, Zelenskyy mentioned the important thing to peace is “strain on Russia and ample, sturdy assist for Ukraine.” To that finish, Carney introduced $2.5 billion Canadian (US$1.8 billion) extra in financial help from his authorities to assist Ukraine rebuild.

Denouncing the “barbarism” of Russia’s newest assaults on Kyiv, Carney credited each Zelenskyy and Trump with creating the situations for a “simply and lasting peace” at an important second.

Trump and Zelenskyy sitting down face-to-face additionally underscored the obvious progress made by Trump’s prime negotiators in latest weeks as the perimeters traded draft peace plans and continued to form a proposal to finish the combating. Zelenskyy advised reporters Friday that the 20-point draft proposal negotiators have mentioned is “about 90% prepared” — echoing a determine, and the optimism, that U.S. officers conveyed when Trump’s chief negotiators met with Zelenskyy in Berlin earlier this month.

In the course of the latest talks, the U.S. agreed to supply sure safety ensures to Ukraine much like these supplied to different members of NATO. The proposal got here as Zelenskyy mentioned he was ready to drop his nation’s bid to affix the safety alliance if Ukraine obtained NATO-like safety that might be designed to safeguard it in opposition to future Russian assaults.

‘Intensive’ weeks forward

Zelenskyy additionally spoke on Christmas Day with U.S. particular envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. The Ukrainian chief mentioned in a put up on X that they mentioned “sure substantive particulars of the continued work” and cautioned in a subsequent put up that “there may be nonetheless work to be executed on delicate points” and “the weeks forward might also be intensive.”

The U.S. president has been working to finish the conflict in Ukraine for a lot of his first yr again in workplace, exhibiting irritation with each Zelenskyy and Putin whereas publicly acknowledging the problem of ending the battle. Lengthy gone are the times when, as a candidate in 2024, he boasted that he may resolve the combating in a day.

After internet hosting Zelenskyy on the White Home in October, Trump demanded that each Russia and Ukraine halt combating and “cease on the battle line,” implying that Moscow ought to have the ability to hold the territory it has seized from Ukraine.

Earlier than Sunday’s assembly, Zelenskyy mentioned the important thing points that stay unresolved between Ukraine and the U.S. embody questions surrounding territory, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant and funding for Ukraine’s postwar restoration. He mentioned there are also excellent technical issues associated to safety ensures and monitoring mechanisms.

Ukraine has conveyed its place to the U.S., Zelenskyy mentioned, including that Trump administration officers would relay that to Russia.

Zelenskyy additionally mentioned final week that he could be keen to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s japanese industrial heartland as a part of a plan to finish the conflict, if Russia additionally pulls again and the world turns into a demilitarized zone monitored by worldwide forces.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov advised reporters Friday that the Kremlin had already been in touch with U.S.

“It was agreed upon to proceed the dialogue,” he mentioned.

Putin desires Russian features saved, and extra

Putin has publicly mentioned he desires all of the areas in 4 key areas which have been captured by his forces, in addition to the Crimean Peninsula, illegally annexed in 2014, to be acknowledged as Russian territory. He additionally has insisted that Ukraine withdraw from some areas in japanese Ukraine that Moscow’s forces have not captured. Kyiv has publicly rejected all these calls for.

The Kremlin additionally desires Ukraine to desert its bid to affix NATO. It warned that it would not settle for the deployment of any troops from members of the army alliance and would view them as a “reputable goal.”

Putin additionally has mentioned Ukraine should restrict the dimensions of its military and provides official standing to the Russian language, calls for he has made out of the outset of the battle.

Putin’s international affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, advised the enterprise each day Kommersant this month that Russian police and nationwide guard would keep in elements of Donetsk -– one of many two main areas, together with Luhansk, that make up the Donbas area — even when they change into a demilitarized zone below a potential peace plan.

Ushakov cautioned that making an attempt to succeed in a compromise may take a very long time. He mentioned U.S. proposals that took into consideration Russian calls for had been “worsened” by alterations proposed by Ukraine and its European allies.

Trump has been considerably receptive to Putin’s calls for, making the case that the Russian president will be persuaded to finish the conflict if Kyiv agrees to cede Ukrainian land within the Donbas area and if Western powers provide financial incentives to deliver Russia again into the worldwide financial system.