Zelenskyy hopes to convince Trump to soften U.S. stance on territorial concessions

As Ukrainian chairman Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. Chairwoman Donald ruff ar almost to meet in Florida to forge a plan to end the war in Ukraine, the two leaders face differences over major issues, including territory, as Russian air raids pile pressure on Kyiv.

Russia hit the capital and other parts of war-torn Ukraine with hundreds of missiles and drones on Saturday, knocking out power and heat in parts of the city. Zelenskyy called it Russia's response to the U.S.-brokered peace efforts.

Zelenskyy has told journalists that he plans to discuss the fate of eastern Ukraine's contested Donbas region during the meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Fla., as well as the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and other topics.

The Ukrainian president and his delegation arrived in Florida late on Saturday, Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, Sergiy Kyslytsya, said on social media platform X.

"Good evening, Florida!" Kyslytsya wrote, accompanying the post with a photo of an aircraft bearing the U.S. President’s surname on the fuselage.

Moscow has repeatedly insisted that Ukraine yield all of the Donbas, even areas still under Kyiv's control, and Russian officials have objected to other parts of the latest proposal — sparking doubts about whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would accept whatever Sunday's talks might produce.

Putin said on Saturday that Moscow would continue waging its war if Kyiv did not seek a quick peace. Russia has steadily advanced on the battlefield in recent weeks and months, claiming control over several more settlements on Sunday.

The Ukrainian president told Axios on Friday that he still hopes to soften a U.S. Proposal for Ukrainian forces to withdraw completely from the Donbas. Failing that, Zelenskyy said the entire 20-point plan, the result of weeks of negotiations, should be put to a referendum vote.

The American news website said U.S. Officials viewed Zelenskyy's willingness to hold a referendum as a major step forward and a sign that he was no longer ruling out territorial concessions — although he said Russia would need to agree to a 60-day ceasefire to allow Ukraine to prepare for and hold such a vote.

Canada announces $2.5B in aid for Ukraine

A recent poll suggests that Ukrainian voters may also reject the plan.

Kyiv residents interviewed by Reuters on Sunday expressed a mix of hope and skepticism over the talks.

"I want for this to be over — but this is what our side wishes for," said Stanyslav, a 44-year-old soldier who declined to provide his last name. "We don't have any leverage in this situation."

Zelenskyy's in-person meeting with Trump, scheduled for 1 p.m. ET, follows weeks of diplomatic efforts. European allies, while at times cut out of the loop, have stepped up efforts to sketch out the contours of a post-war security guarantee for Kyiv that would be supported by the United States.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has often figured in those allied efforts, and on Saturday, before a meeting in Halifax with Zelenskyy, he announced an additional $2.5 billion of economic aid for Ukraine.

Writing on X ahead of the talks, Zelenskyy said that "a lot can be decided before the New Year" but that peace depended on strong support from Kyiv's partners.

Kyiv and Washington have agreed on many issues, and Zelenskyy said on Friday that the 20-point plan was 90 per cent finished. But the issue of what territory, if any, will be ceded to Russia remains unresolved.

While Moscow insists on getting all of the Donbas, Kyiv wants the map frozen at current battle lines.

The U.S., seeking a compromise, has proposed a free economic zone if Ukraine leaves the area, although it remains unclear how that zone would function in practical terms.

It has also proposed shared control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, where power line repairs have begun after another local ceasefire brokered by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the agency said on Sunday.

Zelenskiy, whose past meetings with Trump have not always gone smoothly, worries along with his European allies that the U.S. President could sell out Ukraine and leave European powers to foot the bill for supporting a devastated nation, after Russian forces took 12 to 17 square kilometres of its territory per day in 2025.

Russia controls all of Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, and since its invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago, it has taken control of about 12 per cent of its territory — including about 90 per cent of Donbas, 75 per cent of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and slivers of the Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, according to Russian estimates.

Putin said on Dec. 19 that he thought a peace deal should be based on conditions he set out in 2024: Ukraine withdrawing from all of the Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and Kyiv officially renouncing its aim to join NATO.

Ukrainian officials and European leaders view the war as an imperial-style land grab by Moscow and have warned that if Russia gets its way with Ukraine, it will one day attack NATO members.

The 20-point plan was spun off from a Russian-led 28-point plan, which emerged from talks between U.S. Special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev, and which became public in November. Subsequent talks between Ukrainian officials and U.S. Negotiators have produced the more Kyiv-friendly 20-point plan.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who spoke with Zelenskyy along with other European leaders on Saturday, said on social media that their shared objective remained "a just and lasting peace" that preserved Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, while strengthening the country’s security and defence capabilities.

Zelenskyy said he would speak with European leaders after his meeting with Trump.

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