President Donald Trump spoke Sunday with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, just hours ahead of a meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky in which they were expected to discuss the latest draft of a peace plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“I just had a good and very productive telephone call with President Putin of Russia prior to my meeting, at 1:00 P.M. today, with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to Russia’s state-run news agency, Tass, that the conversation took place.
It was unclear how the phone call would affect Trump’s meeting with Zelensky in Mar-a-Lago on Sunday afternoon. Ukraine has already agreed to “many different compromises” in the 20-point plan developed jointly with the United States, Zelensky said in a post on X Saturday.
“If the whole world — Europe and America — is on our side, together we will stop Putin,” he wrote, adding that Ukraine needs military and financial support from the world to be strong at the negotiating table.
Trump told Politico he believed the meeting at his Mar-a-Lago resort would go well, but also managed expectations. Zelensky “doesn’t have anything until I approve it,” Trump said in remarks published Friday. “So we’ll see what he’s got.”
Putin, who started the war, has so far expressed little interest in a deal. And his forces continued to pound Ukraine over the weekend.
At least four people were killed and 30 wounded in Russian attacks Friday and Saturday, Ukrainian authorities said. An assault on Kyiv’s energy grid early Saturday knocked out heat in a third of the capital, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said, and caused widespread power cuts. The temperature in Kyiv on Saturday evening was 34 degrees; it was forecast to drop to 15 degrees in the coming week.
In a separate X post, Zelensky called for security guarantees for Ukraine in the peace negotiations, referring to the latest Russian attacks. He also said if the Americans raise questions about fresh elections or a referendum, “this certainly cannot be done in the conditions in which we live today.”
As Trump and Zelensky prepare to meet in person for at least the sixth time this year, here’s what to know.
Zelensky to raise security guarantees, territory, pressure on Russia
Zelensky said the United States, Europe and Ukraine were close on security guarantees to protect Ukraine against further attacks by its larger neighbor. He wants a security agreement between Ukraine and the U.S., a date for Ukrainian admission to the European Union and European military support, among other pledges.
Territorial control has proved the more difficult topic. The United States last month backed a Russian demand that Ukrainian troops withdraw from the parts of the Donetsk region that Kyiv still controls and create a neutral demilitarized zone. Zelensky says he can’t cede territory that Russia hasn’t captured; he has proposed that both countries withdraw troops from the region for a neutral, demilitarized economic free zone with international troops and monitors to keep peace.
Zelensky said Friday that he also planned to discuss boosting pressure on Russia.
“Russia constantly looks for reasons not to agree,” he said. If Moscow refuses the new draft, “it means the pressure is insufficient.”
Relations between Trump and Zelensky are complicated
Trump has wavered in his support for Zelensky and Ukraine, from lambasting the leader in the Oval Office on live television in February and pausing military aid and intelligence sharing to praising him in September as a “brave man” who was “putting up one hell of a fight.”
“I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump wrote on social media after meeting with Zelensky at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. “With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option. Why not?”
Zelensky has relied on European leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, for more consistent support. Ahead of his meeting with Trump, Zelensky flew to Canada to meet Prime Minister Mark Carney, who announced a new round of $1.8 billion assistance to Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine remain far apart on key issues
Moscow and Kyiv each insist on conditions for peace that the other side says would be unacceptable. Under the draft plan, Ukraine would maintain a peacetime military of 800,000 troops to discourage future attacks; Moscow has said it couldn’t abide such a force. Putin has demanded Ukraine cede the entire Donbas region; Zelensky has said Ukraine will not give up any territory.
After Russia’s full invasion in 2022, Ukraine applied for NATO membership. Putin has warned that Moscow would view Ukrainian membership as a “direct threat” to Russia; he has repeatedly demanded a guarantee that Ukraine never be admitted to the alliance. Zelensky proposed a Christmas truce this year; Putin declined.
Peace still feels distant
Putin has repeatedly rejected proposals for ceasefires and refused to meet with Zelensky, who he claims is illegitimate. Since launching the war, he has shown no interest in moving off his core demands, including the seizure of large swaths of Ukraine.
Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev met with U.S. negotiators last weekend and reported back to Putin, which led to follow-up phone conversations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “It was agreed to continue dialogue,” he said.
But Zelensky said the weekend attacks on Kyiv made clear that Russia does not want to end the war.
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