'A lot can be decided before New Year' — Zelensky says he and Trump plan to meet in 'near future'
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine and the U.S. had agreed to meet "in the near future," suggesting there could be progress in peace talks to end Russia's war before the New Year.
"We are not losing a single day. We have agreed on a meeting at the highest level — with President Trump in the near future," Zelensky wrote on X on Dec. 26, following an update from Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s top envoy to U.S.-led peace talks and head of the National Defense and Security Council.
"A lot can be decided before the New Year," he said.
Zelensky the day before held a nearly hour-long phone call with Trump's Special Envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to discuss "several substantive details" of the ongoing peace talks, the president said on Dec. 25.
"We are truly working 24/7 to bring the end of this brutal Russian war against Ukraine closer and to ensure that all documents and steps are realistic, effective, and reliable," Zelensky said on social media after the call.
"I hope that today's Christmas agreements and the ideas we discussed will prove useful," the president added without providing specifics on what was agreed upon.
In his evening address on Christmas Day, Zelensky said that "some documents are already prepared, as I see it, they are nearly ready, and some documents are fully prepared. Of course, there is still work to be done on sensitive issues."
After weeks of talks between Kyiv and Washington, Zelensky on Dec. 23 unveiled a draft of the revised peace plan to end Russia's full-scale war. The initial 28-point plan, which effectively pushed Ukraine toward capitulation, has been reworked into a 20-point framework.
In addition, a three-party security guarantee draft between Ukraine, the U.S., and Europe has been developed, as well as a bilateral security guarantee agreement between Ukraine and the U.S. Another document between Kyiv and Washington is focused on economic cooperation and was described as the "roadmap for Ukraine’s prosperity."
