Trump-Zelenskiy talks yield no progress on Ukraine-Russia territorial issues

By Yuliia Dysa and Dan Peleschuk

KYIV, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine on Monday remained far apart on territorial issues that are blocking a peace deal, despite progress on security guarantees for Kyiv at talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Trump said after his talks with the Ukrainian president on Sunday that they were "getting a lot closer, maybe very close" to an agreement to end Russia's war in Ukraine but that "thorny issues" were still there.

Zelenskiy said two main issues outlined in a 20-point peace proposal remained to be resolved - control of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which is in Russian hands, and the fate of the Donbas area of eastern Ukraine.

"Two questions remain: the station - how will the station operate? - and the territory," Zelenskiy told reporters on Monday.

Underlining how far apart Kyiv and Moscow are on territory, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine must withdraw its troops from the small part of Donbas that it still controls, and that Kyiv would lose more land if it did not agree to a deal.

"We are talking about the withdrawal of the regime's armed forces from the Donbas," Peskov said.

He said a call was planned soon between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but did not say when.

SECURITY GUARANTEES

Trump's decision to hold talks with Zelenskiy in Florida on Sunday had widely raised hopes of at least some progress being made towards ending what has become Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two.

Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014. It claims Donbas - comprising the Donetsk and Luhansk regions - as well as the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, although they are all internationally recognised as Ukraine's sovereign territory.

Russia wants Kyiv to withdraw troops from parts of the Donetsk region it has failed to occupy in four years of war since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Kyiv wants fighting halted along current front lines, and Washington has proposed a free economic zone if Ukraine pulls troops back.

"There is no detailed concept for a free economic zone yet," Zelenskiy said.

Russia has rejected the idea of a ceasefire to allow a referendum to be held on any territorial concessions by Ukraine.

One sign of progress on Sunday came when Zelenskiy said a bilateral agreement had been reached on security guarantees for Kyiv although Trump said they were only 95% ready.

"I told (Trump) that we have been at war for almost 15 years, and would very much like the guarantees to be for longer," Zelenskiy said, adding that he had asked Trump to consider a security deal for up to 50 years.

Trump said on Sunday he expected European countries to "take over a big part" of that effort with U.S. backing. Agreement on such moves could be complicated as Russia has said any foreign troop deployment in Ukraine would be unacceptable.

French President Emmanuel Macron said progress was being made on security guarantees, and countries in the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" would meet in Paris in early January to "finalise concrete contributions". 

TRUST BETWEEN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE IS LOW

Despite the recent peace overtures, and some exchanges of prisoners of war, mistrust runs deep between Ukraine and Russia.

Russia launched a heavy attack on Ukraine before the talks in Florida began, and has stepped up attacks on Ukraine's energy facilities as winter approached. Large parts of the capital Kyiv were without power on Monday after the strike as temperatures were below freezing.

Trump repeated on Sunday after his call with Putin that he believed the Russian leader wants the war to end.

"In my opinion, (Putin's) actions do not coincide with the seemingly peaceful rhetoric he uses in his dialogue with the U.S. president," Zelenskiy said, questioning Putin's commitment to peace.

Zelenskiy said he was open to any format of communication with Russia, and a meeting would be possible after Trump and European leaders agree on the framework for peace. Peskov said no call between Putin and Zelenskiy was being discussed.

Putin has said Russia will achieve its aims in Ukraine by force if Kyiv does not want to resolve the conflict diplomatically - making clear it must accept Moscow's demands.

Several Ukrainians who spoke to Reuters in Kyiv on Monday voiced scepticism about prospects for a lasting peace.

"Putin doesn't need territory; he doesn't need Donbas — he wants to destroy the Ukrainians. He destroys us as a nation," said Nadiia Yevtushenko, a 57-year-old Kyiv resident.

(Additional reporting by Moscow nesroom, Olena Harmash, Yurii Kovalenko and Andrii Pryimachenko in Kyiv, Andrea Shalal in Palm Beach, Florida, and Gram Slattery in Washington, Writing by Timothy Heritage, Editing by Alexandra Hudson)