Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, 25 December 2025. Photo: Zelensky / Telegram
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he plans to meet US President Donald Trump “in the near future”, as efforts to outline a peace settlement on Ukraine continue amid ongoing fighting.
“Much may be decided before the new year,” Zelensky wrote on his Telegram channel on Friday, following talks a day earlier between Ukrainian and US representatives.
The meeting is expected to take place Sunday in Florida, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on X on Friday, citing a Ukrainian official.
Kyiv’s revised 20-point peace plan, which is currently being discussed with Washington, is expected to prove contentious in Moscow, however. The New York Times reported on Thursday that the Kremlin was unlikely to accept the proposal as Russian forces continued to make advances in eastern Ukraine.
The revised peace plan marks a shift from earlier drafts that critics said largely reflected Russian demands. It envisages what Kyiv described as “strong” security guarantees for Ukraine, similar to NATO’s Article 5, from the US, NATO and Europe in case of repeat aggression by Russia. It also sets out Ukraine’s ambition for future EU membership.
Unlike the initial version of the plan, the revised draft does not include a commitment by Ukraine to amend its constitution to formally renounce its goal of joining NATO, a step widely seen as one of Moscow's key demands.
Ukraine’s partners have meanwhile signalled readiness for a post-war security role. France, Germany, Türkiye and the UK have expressed willingness to send peacekeeping forces once hostilities end, according to presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has dismissed European plans to deploy peacekeepers as a “fantasy”, while reiterating Moscow’s calls for Ukraine’s full withdrawal from the embattled Donetsk region and a definitive rejection of its NATO aspirations.
Kyiv’s proposal calls for Russian withdrawal from several occupied regions and envisages a demilitarised zone in Donetsk, contingent on reciprocal steps by Moscow. The future of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant remains a point of contention, with Ukraine favouring joint operation with the US.
For Moscow, however, peace talks currently appear less a path to resolution than a tactical exercise, aimed at maintaining constructive relations with Trump while driving a wedge between the US and Ukraine, Kyiv-based analyst Volodymy Fesenko told The New York Times.
“Putin has no intention of ending the war against Ukraine nor is he ready to make even minor compromises at this stage,” Fesenko warned.
