Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for a meeting with United States counterpart Donald Trump to discuss “sensitive issues” as negotiators inched closer to a final draft of a peace plan, nearly four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy told reporters in an embargoed briefing on Tuesday that US and Ukrainian negotiators had reached a consensus on several points aimed at ending the war, but issues, including territorial control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland, remained unresolved.
“We are ready for a meeting with the United States at the leaders’ level to address sensitive issues. Matters such as territorial questions must be discussed at the leaders’ level,” said the Ukrainian leader in comments released by his office on Wednesday.
Zelenskyy’s briefing followed marathon talks in the US state of Florida on the 20-point plan, as Russia reviewed the latest draft. The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been briefed by envoy Kirill Dmitriev, and that Moscow was formulating a response.
Kyiv has been pressing Washington to modify Trump’s peace plan, which had initially been criticised as a Kremlin wish list, including demands that Ukraine cede more territory, accept curbs on its forces and give up on joining the NATO military alliance.
Zelenskyy said the latest 20-point framework draft was a considerable evolution on the earlier plan, with Ukraine keeping its army at its current strength of 800,000 at peacetime, and additional documents agreed with the US and European allies providing robust security guarantees.
But despite the progress, Ukraine and the US have still not found common ground on territorial issues, particularly on control of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, known as the Donbas. This is “the most difficult point”, Zelenskyy said.
