On 29th December, US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. The two leaders discussed a possible peace deal to end the four-year-long Russia-Ukraine War. While Trump and Zelensky described their two-hour-long meeting as “terrific” and “great”, asserting that a Russia-Ukraine peace deal is closer, they did not reveal any specifics about the deal.

“We had a terrific meeting. We discussed a lot of things. As you know, I had an excellent phone call with President Putin. It lasted for over two hours. We discussed a lot of points. I do think we’re getting a lot closer, maybe very close. The President and I just spoke to the European leaders…We have made a lot of progress on ending that war, which is probably the deadliest war since World War II,” Trump said.

Trump refrained from giving a clear timeline; however, he said that the deal could be signed “in a few weeks”. The US President said that while 95% agreement has been reached on key matters, the thorny issues, including the future of the Donbas region, a key Russian demand, persist. He added that European countries are likely to “take over a big part of the security effort, with US support.

“We’ve done very well. We’ve had discussions on just about every subject. We could have something where one item that you’re not thinking about is a big item, breaks it up. Look, it’s been a very difficult negotiation,” Trump said.

Regarding the Donbas region, Trump said that while the issue persists, talks are “moving in the right direction”. The US has proposed that Donbas would be turned into a free economic zone if Ukraine leaves the region; however, not much has been revealed about how a zone would operate in practice.

“It’s unresolved, but it’s getting a lot closer. That’s a very tough issue,” President Trump said.

Meanwhile, Zelensky said that any peace deal would require the approval of the Ukrainian Parliament or be put to a referendum. Regarding this, Trump said that he is willing to address the Ukrainian Parliament if needed to seal the peace deal.

In what came as a surprise to the media and even President Zelensky, Trump said that Russia wants to see Ukraine “succeed”.

“…Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed. Once it sounds a little strange, but I was explaining to the President, President Putin was very generous in his feelings toward Ukraine succeeding, including supplying energy, electricity, and other things at very low prices. So a lot of good things came out of that call today…” he said.

When asked about the possibility of a trilateral meeting along with President Putin and President Zelensky, Trump said, “I see that happening, sure at the right time. I saw a very interesting President Putin today. He wants to see it happen. He wants to see it. He told me very strongly. I believe him…I was on the phone with him (President Putin) for almost 2.5 hours…We discussed a lot of things…”

Notably, during the presidential election campaign last year, Donald Trump claimed that he would end the Russia-Ukraine War, ongoing since 2022, in just 24 hours of assuming office if voted to power. In January 2025, Trump assumed office; however, it has been months now and yet peace in Ukraine remains elusive. Multiple rounds of discussions and negotiations have taken place between Russia, Ukraine and the US., Prisoner swaps have taken place; however, neither a lasting ceasefire nor a peace deal could be achieved.

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