Source The Hindu
PALM BEACH, Florida — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort today, Sunday, December 28, 2025, for a high-stakes meeting aimed at finalizing a peace framework to end nearly four years of war.
The summit comes as the Trump administration intensifies a diplomatic push to freeze the front lines, even as Moscow continues a brutal aerial campaign that underscores the immense difficulty of reaching a lasting settlement.
A “90% Ready” Peace Framework
Heading into the 1:00 PM (1800 GMT) meeting, Zelenskyy expressed cautious optimism, revealing that a 20-point peace plan developed in coordination with U.S. negotiators is now “90% ready.” The proposal seeks to bridge the deep divide between Kyiv’s demand for sovereignty and the realities of a stalemated battlefield.
Key pillars of the draft agreement include:
Security Guarantees: Ukraine is seeking “Article 5-style” protections from Western powers—a pledge that an attack on Ukraine would trigger a coordinated military response—since immediate NATO membership remains off the table.
Military Stature: The plan proposes maintaining a standing Ukrainian army of 800,000 personnel during peacetime to deter future aggression.
The “Prosperity Plan“: A massive $800 billion reconstruction fund involving joint U.S.-Ukrainian investment in natural resources, gas infrastructure, and rare-earth minerals.
Demilitarized Zones: Zelenskyy has signaled a willingness to withdraw “heavy forces” from certain eastern areas to create international monitoring zones, provided Russia mirrors the pullback.
The “Answer” from Moscow
The diplomatic momentum has been met with a violent escalation from the Kremlin. Just hours before the meeting, Russia launched its heaviest aerial assault on Kyiv this year, deploying over 500 drones and 40 missiles.
“This attack is again Russia’s answer to our peace efforts,” Zelenskyy said during a stopover in Canada before flying to Florida. “It shows that Putin doesn’t want peace; he is a man of war.”
While the Kremlin has acknowledged “slow but steady progress” in talks with U.S. envoys, it continues to demand full control over the Donbas region—a “red line” Zelenskyy says he will not cross.
The Trump Factor
For President Trump, the meeting is a pivotal moment for his second-term foreign policy. Having promised to end the war “in 24 hours” during his campaign, he has recently adopted a more transactional tone.
“He [Zelenskyy] doesn’t have anything until I approve it,” Trump told reporters on Friday. “We’ll see what he’s got.”
While Trump’s team has brokered much of the current framework, the President’s final “stamp of approval” remains the ultimate hurdle. Zelenskyy has stated that any final deal involving territorial “sensitivities” would likely be put to a national referendum in Ukraine
