(AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet US President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend, as diplomatic efforts continue to bring an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine.Speaking to reporters, Zelenskyy said the discussions on Sunday will focus on security guarantees for Ukraine. He said negotiators are close to finalising a proposed 20-point peace framework, which “is about 90% ready.”
The upcoming talks come as Washington leads a broad diplomatic initiative aimed at stopping Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022. Progress has been difficult due to major disagreements between Kyiv and Moscow over key conditions for ending the conflict.Zelenskyy said his announcement followed a “good conversation” on Thursday with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law.Earlier in the week, Zelenskyy said Ukraine would consider pulling its forces out of parts of the eastern industrial region if Russia does the same. Under his proposal, the area would become a demilitarised zone overseen by international monitors.Moscow has not signaled acceptance of such a plan. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that negotiations were showing “slow but steady progress,” but Russia continues to press its own demands, reported AP. The Kremlin insists that Ukraine surrender the territory it still controls in the Donbas, a demand Kyiv has rejected. Russian forces currently occupy most of Luhansk and roughly 70% of Donetsk, the two regions that make up the Donbas.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that contacts between Russian and US officials are ongoing following a recent meeting in Florida between Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev and US representatives. “It was agreed upon to continue the dialogue,” Peskov said.
