President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky says he plans to meet with President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday, a possible sign of progress in U.S.-backed talks to end nearly four years. war between Russia and Ukraine.
“We are not wasting a day. We have agreed on a summit meeting with President Trump in the near future,” Zelensky wrote on Friday on X.
Later on Friday, in a WhatsApp chat with Ukrainian journalists, Zelensky confirmed that the meeting would take place on Sunday. He added that it was unclear “whether territorial issues will be discussed.”
U.S. officials did not respond to requests to confirm the presidents' meeting on Sunday. Trump said in November that he will only meet with Zelensky or Putin if an agreement is reached or is in the “final stages.”
The announcement came a day after Zelensky said he had a “good conversation” with the US ambassador. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, both of whom are central to U.S. efforts to resolve the conflict.
Trump made a high-level announcement diplomatic push to end the war, but his efforts faced widespread criticism from Moscow and Kyiv. different positions and requirements.
Putin, who launched a full-scale invasion of Russia's much smaller neighbor in February 2022, has not abandoned maximalist demands that block Ukraine's integration with the West and limit its ability to defend itself.
Until Tuesday, Zelensky had maintained that he would not be willing to withdraw troops from the country's eastern industrial heartland, much of which is occupied by Russian troops, as part of a plan to end the war.
At a press conference with Ukrainian journalists earlier this week, Zelensky said he would be willing to negotiate the handover of some territory if Moscow was willing to “reduce its troops accordingly” from what would become a demilitarized zone controlled by international forces.
On Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said there was “slow but steady progress” in peace talks, although Russia gave no instructions that it will agree to any withdrawal of the lands it has seized.
During a closed meeting with leading Russian businessmen on Wednesday, Putin said he wants all of Donbass but could be willing to trade some of the territory controlled by Russian troops in Ukraine, according to Russian newspaper Kommersant.
Moscow previously insisted that Ukraine give up the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbass – an ultimatum that Ukraine rejected. Russia has captured most of Lugansk and about 70% of Donetsk, two territories that make up the Donbass.
On the spot, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Alexey Kuleba said that Russian drone attacks damaged three foreign-flagged ships in the ports of Odessa and Nikolaev regions of Ukraine, including a ship flagged by Slovakia, which is a NATO member country.
“There are partial power outages,” Kuleba said in a statement on Telegram on Friday.
Meanwhile, Ukraine said it struck a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using British Storm Shadow missiles.
The Ukrainian General Staff said its forces struck the Novoshakhtinsky oil refinery in Russia's Rostov region. “Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it was written on Telegram.
Governor of the Rostov region Yuri Slyusar said that a firefighter was injured while extinguishing the fire.
Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russian oil refineries are aimed at depriving Moscow oil export revenues he needs to pursue a full-scale invasion. Russia wants disable the Ukrainian energy systemseeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Kyiv officials say is an attempt to “use winter as a weapon.”
This developing story. Please stay tuned for updates.
