Trump-Zelensky talks yield no progress on Ukraine-Russia territorial issues

Russia and Ukraine on Monday remained far apart on territorial issues that are blocking a peace deal, despite progress on security guarantees for Kyiv at talks between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

Trump said after his talks with the Ukrainian president on Sunday that they were “getting a lot closer, maybe very close” to an agreement to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, but that “thorny issues” were still there.

Zelensky said two main issues outlined in a 20-point peace proposal remained to be resolved - control of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which is in Russian hands, and the fate of the Donbas area of eastern Ukraine.

“Two questions remain: the station - how will the station operate? - and the territory,” Zelensky told reporters on Monday.

Underlining how far apart Kyiv and Moscow are on territory, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine must withdraw its troops from the small part of Donbas that it still controls, and that Kyiv would lose more land if it did not agree to a deal.

“We are talking about the withdrawal of the regime’s armed forces from the Donbas,” Peskov said.

He said a call was planned soon between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but did not say when.

Security Guarantees

Trump’s decision to hold talks with Zelensky in Florida on Sunday had widely raised hopes of at least some progress being made towards ending what has become Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two.

Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014. It claims Donbas - comprising the Donetsk and Luhansk regions - as well as the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, although they are all internationally recognised as Ukraine’s sovereign territory.

Russia wants Kyiv to withdraw troops from parts of the Donetsk region it has failed to occupy in four years of war since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Kyiv wants fighting halted along the current front lines, and Washington has proposed a free economic zone if Ukraine pulls troops back.

Russia launched a heavy attack on Ukraine before the talks in Florida began, and has stepped up attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities as winter approached. Large parts of the capital Kyiv were without power on Monday after the strike, as temperatures were below freezing.

Trump repeated on Sunday, after his call with Putin, that he believed the Russian leader wants the war to end.

“In my opinion, (Putin’s) actions do not coincide with the seemingly peaceful rhetoric he uses in his dialogue with the US president,” Zelensky said, questioning Putin’s commitment to peace.

Zelensky said he was open to any format of communication with Russia, and a meeting would be possible after Trump and European leaders agree on the framework for peace. Peskov said no call between Putin and Zelensky was being discussed.

Putin has said Russia will achieve its aims in Ukraine by force if Kyiv does not want to resolve the conflict diplomatically - making clear it must accept Moscow’s demands.

Several Ukrainians who spoke to Reuters in Kyiv on Monday voiced scepticism about prospects for a lasting peace.

“Putin doesn’t need territory; he doesn’t need Donbas — he wants to destroy the Ukrainians. He destroys us as a nation,” said Nadiia Yevtushenko, a 57-year-old Kyiv resident.