{"id":5024,"date":"2025-12-29T15:05:36","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T15:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/?p=5024"},"modified":"2025-12-29T15:05:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T15:05:37","slug":"trump-indicates-peace-deal-between-ukraine-russia-is-closer-than-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/?p=5024","title":{"rendered":"Trump Indicates Peace Deal Between Ukraine, Russia Is Closer Than Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>President Donald Trump is expected to host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday as both sides push to finalize a U.S.-backed peace plan, Ukrainian officials said. The planned meeting signals significant progress in negotiations aimed at ending Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, Axios\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/12\/26\/zelensky-trump-meet-ukraine-peace-plan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trump has previously said he would only meet Zelensky if a deal was close. Zelensky confirmed he would meet Trump on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said the U.S. proposal was \u201c90%\u201d agreed upon, but stopped short of saying anything would be signed. \u201cWe are not losing a single day,\u201d Zelensky wrote on X after receiving a briefing from his chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe have agreed on a meeting at the highest level \u2014 with President Trump in the near future,\u201d he added. \u201cA lot can be decided before the New Year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The meeting follows a weekend of talks in Florida between Trump advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and senior negotiators from both Russia and Ukraine. Those discussions were part of a series of meetings held over the past two months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A senior U.S. official described the talks with Umerov and Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev as \u201cpositive and constructive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve gone as far as possible with the Russians and the Ukrainians,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve made more progress in the last two weeks than the last year,\u201d the official added. \u201cWe want to push the ball into the goal. We\u2019re heading in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Negotiations continued over Christmas, as Zelensky spoke Thursday with Witkoff and Kushner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8 JUST IN: President Trump says ZELENSKY will be meeting with him at Mar-a-Lago this weekend <br><br>47 is pushing to get this peace deal finalized.<br><br>Most Presidents take the week between Christmas and New Year off.<br><br>Not Trump. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NAk3aG5bUx\">pic.twitter.com\/NAk3aG5bUx<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nicksortor\/status\/2004648545203417571?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 26, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are truly working 24\/7 to bring closer the end of this brutal Russian war against Ukraine,\u201d Zelensky said after the call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI hope that today\u2019s Christmas understandings and the ideas we discussed will prove useful,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later Thursday, Witkoff and Kushner held additional discussions with Ukrainian negotiators and Russian officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Kremlin said Friday that Yuri Ushakov, President Vladimir Putin\u2019s top foreign policy aide, spoke with U.S. counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Officials from both the U.S. and Ukraine said most elements of the agreement have been settled. Those include the security guarantees Ukraine would receive from the United States and Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A senior U.S. official confirmed the administration is prepared to send a security guarantee to the Senate for ratification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Russia Pummels Kiev, Hundreds Of Thousands Without Power, Ahead Of Trump-Zelensky Meeting <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sGvZUw0nuu\">https:\/\/t.co\/sGvZUw0nuu<\/a><\/p>&mdash; zerohedge (@zerohedge) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/zerohedge\/status\/2004929039572557948?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 27, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The document is based on NATO\u2019s Article 5 mutual defense clause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe U.S. and Europe will provide Ukraine with security guarantees,\u201d Zelensky said earlier this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf Russia invades Ukraine there will be a military response and sanctions will be reinstated,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zelensky said negotiations are ongoing over the future of Europe\u2019s largest nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main remaining sticking point is Russia\u2019s demand to control the entire Donbas region under any agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8 RUSSIA LAUNCHES MISSILE &amp; DRONE ATTACKS ON KYIV AHEAD OF KEY PEACE TALKS<br><br>Russia struck Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine with missiles and drones on Saturday, just days before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s crucial meeting with US President Donald Trump in Florida.\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MGPJ1W4JuT\">pic.twitter.com\/MGPJ1W4JuT<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Elina Vibes (@elina_vibes) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elina_vibes\/status\/2005021895205552619?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 27, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>U.S. officials have proposed turning areas from which Ukrainian forces would withdraw into a demilitarized free economic zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zelensky has insisted on a reciprocal withdrawal of Russian forces from current lines of control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He has also said any territorial concessions would require approval through a referendum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the senior U.S. official, Russia has agreed a ceasefire would be necessary to hold such a vote. Ukraine has proposed a 60 day truce, but Russia may push for a shorter ceasefire, the official said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Donald Trump is expected to host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday as both sides<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5024"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5026,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5024\/revisions\/5026"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/states-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}