Zelensky plans to fulfill Trump on Sunday for talks on peace deal

[ad_1] <img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/7da5/live/70bfb750-e257-11f0-adaa-4b49d24d5c3b.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/7da5/live/70bfb750-e257-11f0-adaa-4b49d24d5c3b.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/7da5/live/70bfb750-e257-11f0-adaa-4b49d24d5c3b.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/7da5/live/70bfb750-e257-11f0-adaa-4b49d24d5c3b.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/7da5/live/70bfb750-e257-11f0-adaa-4b49d24d5c3b.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/7da5/live/70bfb750-e257-11f0-adaa-4b49d24d5c3b.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/7da5/live/70bfb750-e257-11f0-adaa-4b49d24d5c3b.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/7da5/live/70bfb750-e257-11f0-adaa-4b49d24d5c3b.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="EPA/Shutterstock Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump in the Oval Office" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> EPA/Shutterstock Ukraine's president final met President Donald Trump on the White Home in October

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky has stated he'll meet US President Donald Trump in Florida on the weekend, as talks proceed on ending Russia's full-scale conflict.

Zelensky stated he anticipated the assembly to happen on Sunday and to give attention to a US-brokered 20-point peace plan, in addition to separate proposals for US safety ensures.

In the meantime, the Kremlin says President Vladimir Putin's senior aide has held additional talks with US officers over the cellphone, and that Russia has dedicated to persevering with with the negotiations.

Russia has spoken of "gradual however regular progress" in talks however has not commented on Zelensky's supply to withdraw troops from the jap Donbas, if Russia pulls again too.

Ukraine has sought to safe ensures from the US as a part of a deal, and Zelensky has prompt {that a} demilitarised "free financial zone" is a possible possibility for areas of Donbas that Russia has did not take by drive.

On Friday, Zelensky stated he had obtained an replace on the most recent technical talks from his most senior negotiator, Rustem Umerov.

He wrote on social media: "We aren't shedding a single day. We've got agreed on a gathering on the highest degree – with President Trump within the close to future. Quite a bit may be determined earlier than the New 12 months."

A White Home assembly between Zelensky and Trump in February, the primary after the US president returned to workplace, descended right into a hostile shouting match, although their most up-to-date assembly on the White Home in October was way more amicable.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/3b4f/live/2ad2c1a0-e258-11f0-9cc8-5f4006175918.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/3b4f/live/2ad2c1a0-e258-11f0-9cc8-5f4006175918.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3b4f/live/2ad2c1a0-e258-11f0-9cc8-5f4006175918.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/3b4f/live/2ad2c1a0-e258-11f0-9cc8-5f4006175918.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/3b4f/live/2ad2c1a0-e258-11f0-9cc8-5f4006175918.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/3b4f/live/2ad2c1a0-e258-11f0-9cc8-5f4006175918.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/3b4f/live/2ad2c1a0-e258-11f0-9cc8-5f4006175918.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3b4f/live/2ad2c1a0-e258-11f0-9cc8-5f4006175918.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Reuters Ukrainian soldiers eating a meal around a table" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Reuters Ukrainian troopers have been pictured consuming a Christmas meal collectively as preventing continued alongside the entrance line

Affirmation of deliberate top-level talks got here after the Ukrainian chief stated he had spoken to Trump's chief negotiators, particular envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, for an hour over the cellphone on Christmas Day.

He stated the most recent spherical of negotiations had generated "new concepts" on the right way to finish the conflict, and described it as a "actually good dialog".

The White Home has proposed establishing what would in impact be a demilitarised zone in jap Ukraine the place each side agree to not deploy troops - a compromise that may keep away from settling the intractable query of authorized possession over the contested territory.

Zelensky signalled on Wednesday that if Ukraine have been to tug again by as much as 40km (25 miles) from the entrance line within the east to create an financial zone, then Russia must do the identical from Russian-occupied components of Ukraine's industrial heartland within the Donbas.

Ukraine has secured a lot of modifications to an earlier 28-point draft plan, which was formulated by Steve Witkoff however broadly seen as being beneficial to Russia.

Zelensky instructed reporters on Friday that the weekend talks in Florida would give attention to a number of paperwork, together with US safety ensures and a separate financial settlement.

Nevertheless, Zelensky has repeatedly stated the query of territory has proved to be essentially the most tough subject to resolve, together with the way forward for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant.

The White Home has proposed Ukraine and Russia break up the vitality generated by the plant, the biggest in Europe. Russian troops at present management it.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/8541/live/7019e4f0-e258-11f0-a8dc-93c15fe68710.png.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/8541/live/7019e4f0-e258-11f0-a8dc-93c15fe68710.png.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/8541/live/7019e4f0-e258-11f0-a8dc-93c15fe68710.png.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/8541/live/7019e4f0-e258-11f0-a8dc-93c15fe68710.png.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/8541/live/7019e4f0-e258-11f0-a8dc-93c15fe68710.png.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/8541/live/7019e4f0-e258-11f0-a8dc-93c15fe68710.png.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/8541/live/7019e4f0-e258-11f0-a8dc-93c15fe68710.png.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/8541/live/7019e4f0-e258-11f0-a8dc-93c15fe68710.png.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Map showing which areas of east of Ukraine are under Russian military control or limited Russian control highlighting the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Crimea" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Russia is unlikely to conform to a lot of factors within the up to date US plan, particularly its territorial proposals. International ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused "teams of states, primarily Western European" of in search of to derail the diplomatic progress that had been made.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed additional talks would happen between Russian and American delegations, following final weekend's assembly between US negotiators and a delegation led by Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Miami.

One other shut aide, Yuri Ushakov, had held additional talks with the White Home over the cellphone, and extra have been deliberate, Peskov added.

Zelensky outlined the most recent model of the plan this week, the primary time for the reason that unique 28-point draft was leaked in November.

Newest proposals commit the US and Europe to offering safety ensures modelled on Nato's Article 5, committing allies to offering army assist within the occasion Russia launches a renewed invasion.

The deal would additionally see Ukraine's army maintained at 800,000 personnel, a degree the Kremlin has demanded be minimize.

In the meantime, preventing and aerial strikes have continued. Ukrainian officers have reported at the very least 4 deaths because of strikes for the reason that morning of 25 December, whereas the air drive stated it had shot down 73 drones in a single day.

Russia additionally stated it had shot down projectiles in a single day, together with British Storm Shadow missiles. Ukraine's air drive stated it had struck oil and fuel refineries in Rostov and Krasnodar.