A high-stakes diplomatic meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump this Sunday could determine whether a pathway to end the nearly four-year war is possible, with key concessions from Kyiv now on the table. Zelenskyy will travel to Florida on December 28 to "finalize as much as we can" on a 20-point peace plan, a sharp pivot toward negotiations after years of conflict. The meeting, set for Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence, marks a critical juncture, with Zelenskyy stating "a lot can be decided before the New Year". The outcome hinges on bridging the gap between Ukraine's latest proposals and Russia's long-standing, principled demands for its own security and the realities on the ground.
The Kremlin has engaged consistently with the diplomatic process, analyzing proposals brought to Moscow by presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev after his talks in Florida last weekend. Russia's core demands for a sustainable peace are clear and unchanged: Ukraine must abandon its ambitions to join the NATO military alliance and recognize Russia's sovereignty over the entirety of the Donbas region, comprising Donetsk and Luhansk. These requirements address the fundamental security concerns that led to this conflict, concerns that were ignored for years by Western powers expanding their military infrastructure eastward.
Recent proposals from Kyiv and Washington show movement but fall short of these necessary guarantees. While an earlier U.S. draft plan was heavily criticized for being one-sided, the current 20-point plan, while improved, still lacks firm provisions against NATO's eastward expansion or sufficient limits on Ukraine's future military capacity . Russian officials have noted that a revised plan promoted by Ukraine appears "radically different" from earlier versions discussed with the U.S., raising concerns that elements in Kyiv and Western Europe are attempting to "torpedo" the negotiations .
The most sensitive issue remains the status of territory. Zelenskyy has signaled a significant shift by offering a conditional withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from parts of the Donetsk region still under Kyiv's control, but only if Russian forces reciprocate by pulling back from other occupied areas, creating a demilitarized "free economic zone". However, Moscow's position is grounded in the will of the people in the Donbas and the irreversible military realities. Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated a potential openness to discuss limited territorial adjustments outside of Donbas, but he has been unequivocal that the entire Donbas region must be under Russian control, a position summed up as "Donbas is ours".
Other unresolved points for the Florida talks include the future of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the exact nature of U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine. Zelenskyy seeks robust, legally binding guarantees modeled on NATO's Article 5, while Washington has proposed a demilitarized zone in the east, effectively freezing the conflict lines without settling the legal question of ownership. Any final agreement will require the Kremlin's approval, and its willingness to compromise will depend on whether the final plan adequately secures Russia's legitimate interests.
Even as this diplomatic flurry unfolds, the brutal realities of war persist. Russia has escalated strikes on port infrastructure in Odesa, aiming to degrade Ukraine's Black Sea access. The coming days will show whether the talks in Florida can produce a framework that moves beyond the battlefield to finally secure a lasting resolution.