Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 26, 2025
4 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleZelenskiy and Trump will discuss Ukraine's territorial and security issues, focusing on a 20-point peace plan and security guarantees to end the conflict with Russia.
By Yuliia Dysa
KYIV, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wants to discuss territorial issues, the main stumbling block in talks to end the war, with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday, as a 20-point peace framework and a security guarantee deal near completion.
Announcing the meeting, Zelenskiy said "a lot can be decided before the New Year," as Washington drives efforts to end Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine, Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two.
A security guarantee agreement between Ukraine and the U.S. is "almost ready" and the 20-point plan draft was 90% complete, Zelenskiy told reporters in a WhatsApp chat.
"He doesn't have anything until I approve it," Trump told Politico in an interview published on Friday. "So we'll see what he's got."
Zelenskiy told Axios that the U.S. offered a 15-year deal on security guarantees that could be renewed, and Kyiv wanted a longer term.
Wary of failed guarantees from allies in the past, Ukraine is seeking robust and legally binding deals to prevent further Russian aggression.
Zelenskiy said his meeting with Trump aimed to "refine things" in the drafts and to discuss potential deals on Ukraine's economy.
He added that he was not ready to say if any deal would be signed during his visit, but Ukraine was open to it.
Trump said he believed the meeting was going to go well, while he expected to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin "soon, as much as I want."
SENSITIVE LAND ISSUES
Territorial issues remain a hurdle to negotiations moving forward.
"As for the sensitive issues: We will discuss both Donbas and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. We will certainly discuss other issues as well," Zelenskiy said as he unveiled the agenda for the meeting.
Moscow demands that Ukraine withdraw from the parts of the eastern Donetsk region that Russian troops have failed to occupy during almost four years of war, as it seeks full control of the Donbas, comprising the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Kyiv wants the fighting to be halted at the current lines.
The U.S., seeking a compromise, proposed a free economic zone if Ukraine leaves parts of the Donetsk region. The proposal gave no details on how the zone would function.
Zelenskiy was cited by Axios as saying that if he is not able to push the U.S. to back Ukraine's "strong" position on the land issue, he is willing to put the 20-point plan to a referendum - as long as Russia agrees to a 60-day ceasefire to allow Ukraine to prepare for and hold the vote.
Trump, who has at times expressed frustration with the slow pace of progress in the negotiations, previously suggested that he would meet with Zelenskiy if he felt that a major diplomatic advance was possible.
European leaders might join the talks online, according to Zelenskiy.
On Friday, he discussed preparations for the Sunday meeting and progress in talks with some European leaders, including NATO chief Mark Rutte and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who is seen as close to Trump.
RUSSIAN STANCE
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Kyiv's version of the 20-point plan was radically different from what Russia has been discussing with the U.S., according to Interfax-Russia.
He added, however, that: "I think that 25 December 2025 will remain in our memory as a turning point, when we came closer, indeed closer, to a solution."
Putin's foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, spoke with members of the Trump administration after Moscow received U.S. proposals about a possible peace deal, the Kremlin said on Friday. It did not disclose how Moscow viewed the documents.
Russia's Kommersant newspaper reported that Putin told some of Russia's top businessmen that he might be open to swapping some territory controlled by Russian forces elsewhere in Ukraine, but that in exchange he wanted the whole of the Donbas.
Even as the talks proceeded, Russia continued hammering Ukraine's energy infrastructure and stepped up attacks on the southern region of Odesa, the site of Ukraine's main seaports. On Friday, a Russian attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv killed two people.
Zelenskiy said he planned to raise with Trump the issue of placing additional pressure on Russia.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa in Kyiv and Dmitry Antonov in Moscow; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Palm Beach and Simon Lewis in Washington, and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Joe Bavier, Alexandra Hudson and Edmund Klamann)
A territorial issue refers to disputes over land ownership or control, often arising from historical conflicts, wars, or differing national interests.
Foreign currency refers to the money used in other countries, which can be exchanged for the local currency in international transactions.
International financial institutions provide financial support, policy advice, and technical assistance to countries to promote economic stability and development.
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