Trump and Zelensky appear more upbeat

The highly anticipated talks lasted 2.5 hours, which is an achievement in itself. Never before have President Trump and Zelensky negotiated in the same room for this long.

Later at Mar-a-Lago, optimism was on full display. According to Donald Trump, it was “a great meeting”. Volodymyr Zelensky agreed, describing it as a “great meeting” with “great discussions on all topics.”

But although the two presidents sounded more optimistic than before, we still did not hear any signs of progress, just like in previous talks this year.

There is still no answer to the fundamental question of whether Ukraine will have to give up its territory in exchange for the promise of peace. This is one of the main demands put forward by Russia and apparently supported by the United States; Therefore, the fact that Zelensky does not accept this – at least in public – is considered good news for Ukraine. But he appeared to leave open the possibility of territorial concessions, saying a referendum could be held to approve any agreement to end the war.

There is also no clarity on security guarantees, which is another important issue. Although President Zelensky says they agree “100%” with the United States, we don’t know what they are and whether they will be enough to deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again.

Less importantly, whatever agreements presidents Trump and Zelensky reach, there is no reason to assume that Russia will accept them. In fact, he had already rejected the main ideas put forward just before the talks in Florida: declaring a ceasefire and sending a multinational force to Ukraine to monitor it.

This raises the question of what Donald Trump is prepared to do if Russia rejects his agreements with Volodymyr Zelensky. So far, it has been the Ukrainian leader who has borne the brunt of the pressure, resentment and anger. Donald Trump’s continued positive rhetoric about Vladimir Putin (whom the US president said today was “serious” about peace and “wants to see Ukraine succeed”) suggests this is unlikely to change.

At the end of the day, all of this means that, despite the optimism of Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, we see little sign that lasting peace will prevail in Ukraine any time soon.