President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shake hands at the start of a joint news conference following a meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said they made progress in talks at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property, but both leaders said some important points still need more work and gave no timeline for a final deal.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday he and President Donald Trump made significant progress in talks and agreed that US and Ukrainian teams would meet next week to finalise issues aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“We had a substantive conversation on all issues and highly value the progress that the Ukrainian and American teams have made over the past weeks,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app, as reported by the Reuters.
Here’s what all two leaders said:
Joint praise for the meeting
President Trump said it was a “terrific meeting” and that both sides were “getting a lot closer, maybe very close” to an agreement.
Zelensky thanked Trump for a “great meeting” and said a 20-point peace plan was “90%” agreed. He said their teams would keep working on the remaining points.
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Security guarantees
Zelensky said security guarantees for Ukraine were “100% agreed” and described them as a “key milestone in achieving lasting peace”. He added that officials would continue working to “finalise all discussed matters”.
Trump said work on security issues was “close to 95% done”. However, after the latest strikes on Kyiv, Zelensky repeated his claim that Russia does “not want to end the war and is trying to use every opportunity to inflict more pain on Ukraine”.
On territory — main sticking point
Trump said the status of the eastern Donbas region remains “unresolved” and called it the main sticking point in the talks. He said both sides were “getting a lot closer” but did not present a solution.
Zelensky said Ukraine’s position on Donbas is “very clear” and is different from Russia’s position.
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Trump said any ceasefire or peace deal would also require agreement from Russia. He said Vladimir Putin has not agreed to a ceasefire that would allow referendums to be held in Ukraine.
On Ukraine’s reconstruction
Trump said Russia “are going to be helping” with the reconstruction of Ukraine if a deal is reached. He said he is open to visiting Ukraine, preferably after an agreement.
A possible trilateral meeting
Trump said the United States, Ukraine and Russia could meet “at the right time” and suggested that Putin “wants to see it happen”.
Zelenskyy said there could also be another meeting in Washington with European leaders, and that both sides expect their teams to meet again in the coming weeks.
(With inputs from agencies)
