U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that negotiations to end the war in Ukraine are edging closer to a breakthrough following high-level talks in Florida, even as both leaders acknowledged that several complex and politically sensitive issues remain unresolved.
Speaking to reporters after their meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Trump and Zelenskyy described what they called significant progress on a proposed 20-point peace framework, the product of weeks of intensive diplomacy involving the United States, Ukraine, European Union members, and NATO officials. While much of the framework is reportedly agreed upon, disagreements over territorial status, ceasefire guarantees, and the process for Ukrainian domestic approval continue to pose major hurdles.
“We could be very close,” Trump said, signalling cautious optimism. “There are one or two very thorny issues, very tough issues. But I think we’re doing very well. We made a lot of progress today, but really, we’ve made it over the last month. This is not a one-day process. It’s very complicated stuff.”
Weeks of diplomacy across capitals
Zelenskyy echoed Trump’s assessment, saying negotiators have largely converged on the structure of a deal following sustained engagement across multiple international venues. According to the Ukrainian leader, talks have taken place over several weeks in cities including Geneva, Miami, Berlin, and Palm Beach, with American and Ukrainian teams working in close coordination to refine a shared peace framework.
“We discussed all the aspects of the peace framework, which includes — and we have great achievements — a 20-point peace plan, 90 per cent agreed,” Zelenskyy said, underscoring what he described as unprecedented alignment between Kyiv and Washington at this stage of the conflict.
Both leaders confirmed that European and NATO officials have been deeply involved in the negotiations. Following the Florida meeting, Trump and Zelenskyy participated in a joint call with senior European leaders and international partners, reinforcing the multilateral nature of the peace effort.
Zelenskyy added that negotiating teams are expected to reconvene in the coming weeks to address the remaining disputes. Trump, he said, has also expressed willingness to host additional talks in Washington involving European leaders and a Ukrainian delegation, signalling continued U.S. engagement at the highest level.
Territory remains the hardest question
Despite the progress, the status of territory — particularly the Donbas region — remains among the most contentious issues. Both Trump and Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine and Russia hold sharply differing positions, making compromise politically and diplomatically fraught.
Trump warned that time could work against Ukraine if fighting continues without a settlement. “Some of that land has been taken,” he said. “Some of that land is maybe up for grabs, but it may be taken over the next period of a number of months. Are you better off making a deal now?” The remarks suggested a sense of urgency in Washington to prevent further battlefield losses from shaping the final terms of any agreement.
Zelenskyy, however, stressed that territorial questions cannot be resolved by executive decision alone. Any final agreement, he said, must comply with Ukrainian law and reflect the will of the Ukrainian people — potentially requiring parliamentary approval or even a national referendum.
“Our society, too, has to choose and decide who has to vote, because it’s their land — the land not of one person,” Zelenskyy said. “It’s the land of our nation for a lot of generations.”
Public pressure and the human cost
Trump framed his push for a deal in humanitarian terms, citing what he described as overwhelming public support for ending the conflict and the staggering human toll of the war. “We want to see it ended,” he said. “I want it ended because I don’t want to see so many people dying. We’re losing massive numbers of people — the biggest by far since World War II.”
Analysts note that the convergence of diplomatic momentum, public fatigue with the war, and intensifying battlefield pressures may be driving the renewed urgency on all sides. However, they caution that the remaining disputes — particularly over sovereignty, security guarantees, and enforcement mechanisms — are precisely the issues that have derailed past peace efforts.
Cautious optimism ahead
While neither leader offered a definitive timeline, Sunday’s statements marked one of the most optimistic assessments of peace prospects since the war began. The emphasis on a nearly agreed 20-point plan, coupled with ongoing multilateral involvement, suggests that negotiators believe a framework is within reach — if the final obstacles can be bridged.
For now, the talks remain delicately poised between breakthrough and breakdown. As Trump put it, progress has been substantial, but the final steps will require resolving questions that strike at the heart of Ukraine’s sovereignty and the future security architecture of Europe.
