President Trump downplayed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s optimism about the Ukraine leader’s 20-point peace plan in an interview published Friday.
“He doesn’t have anything until I approve it. So we’ll see what he’s got,” Trump told Politico.
His remarks come days before his planned Sunday in-person meeting with Zelensky. The Ukrainian leader is pushing to forgo land cessation and security guarantees during peace discussions to end the more than three-year war with Russia.
Zelensky’s 20-point draft proposal outlines a plan to have Russian forces withdraw from the Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kharkiv regions and build an $800 billion fund for post-war recovery efforts.
“Every meeting and every conversation brings us closer to the desired result,” Zelensky told the Kyiv Post, ahead of his planned face-to-face appointment with Trump.
Trump otherwise did share a positive outlook for the Sunday meeting.
“I think it’s going to go good with him. I think it’s going to go good with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” Trump said, adding that he expects to speak with the Russian leader “soon, as much as I want,” according to Politico.
Trump met with Putin in Alaska in mid-August with hopes of advancing talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war. However, a ceasefire has not materialized.
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff have led negotiations for months with the help of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Zelensky said he “discussed certain substantive details” of the ongoing peace talks with Kushner and Witkoff on Thursday.
“There are good ideas that can work toward a shared outcome and the lasting peace. Real security, real recovery, and real peace are what all of us need – Ukraine, the United States, Europe, and every partner who helps us. I hope that today’s Christmas understandings and the ideas we discussed will prove useful,” Zelensky wrote on the social platform X.
Trump, Zelenskyy scheduled to do call with Europeans Saturday
Ahead of their Sunday in-person meeting, Trump and Zelenskyy are scheduled to do a conference call with European allies Saturday to brief them on the latest details of the peace proposals the two countries are discussing, a Ukrainian official confirmed to NewsNation. The Europeans are not attending Sunday’s session.