Zelenskyy To Meet Trump In Florida To Discuss Peace Plan

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend.

Zelenskyy told reporters that the two leaders would discuss security guarantees for Ukraine in talks on Sunday and that the 20-point plan discussed was “about 90 percent ready.”

Zelenskyy said the “economic agreement” would also be discussed, but added that he could not confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.”

He said that the Ukrainian side would also raise “territorial issues”. Moscow insisted that Ukraine give up its remaining territory in Donbas, and Ukraine rejected this ultimatum. Russia captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk, the two regions that make up Donbas.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine “wants the Europeans to get involved” but doubted whether this would be possible in the short term.

“Surely in the near future we must find a format in which not only Ukraine and the United States are represented, but also Europe,” he said.

The announced meeting is the latest development in the comprehensive US-led diplomatic initiative aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war, which has been going on for nearly four years; but the efforts resulted in completely conflicting demands from Moscow and Kiev.

Zelenskyy’s comments came after he said on Thursday that he had a “good meeting” with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Russia’s presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev has already been in contact with US representatives since recently, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday. He met with US ambassadors in Florida.

“An agreement was reached to continue the dialogue,” he said.

Trump is busy with something diplomatic pressure Russia’s effort to end its all-out war, which began on February 24, 2022, has yielded harsh results. conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.

Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial region as part of a plan to end the war if Russia also withdraws and the region becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international powers.

Russia has given no indication it would agree to any withdrawal from captured territory, although Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that “slow but steady progress” was being made in peace talks.

Two people were killed and six others were injured Friday when a guided aerial bomb hit a busy road and set vehicles on fire in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, Mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.

Local authorities said on Friday that one person was killed and three people were injured when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya region, and six people were injured in a missile attack on the city of Uman.

Attacks by Russian drones on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs until Friday left part of the city without electricity. In the Black Sea city of Odessa, energy and port infrastructure were damaged due to drones.

Ukraine, meanwhile, said it hit a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.

Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region.

“Multiple explosions recorded. Target hit,” he wrote on Telegram.

Rostov Regional Governor Yuri Slyusar said one firefighter was injured while extinguishing the fire.

Ukraine’s long-range drone attacks Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow oil export revenue it needs to continue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants Crippling Ukraine’s power gridTrying to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water is an attempt to “weaponize winter,” Ukrainian officials say.