Trump, Zelensky Meet Face-to-Face on Russia-Ukraine Peace Plan

President Donald Trump, right, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at White House in February. (Getty Images)

Key Points

• President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed a 20-point peace plan, agreeing on security guarantees and future meetings.
• Zelensky emphasized the importance of allies and rejected territorial concessions demanded by Russian President Putin.
• Putin stated Russia would achieve its goals militarily if Kyiv authorities were unwilling to end the conflict peacefully.

President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky sat down Sunday to talk about a 20-point peace plan to end the Russia-Ukraine War.

“Our meeting was excellent,” Trump said in a video posted by the White House. He said he and Zelensky discussed just about every subject, went into great detail on what they discussed, and “made a lot of progress on ending that war.”

Zelensky posted that he and Trump had a “substantive discussion on all issues,” including aspects of the peace framework, and “achieved significant results.”

Three things that Zelensky said he and Trump agreed on: security guarantees are key to a lasting peace; a meeting between their teams as early as next week to finalize matters; and a Washington summit of Ukrainian and European leaders, hosted by Trump. “Ukraine is ready for peace,” he wrote.

Russian President Vladimir Putin wasn’t at Mar-a-Lago, where the meeting was held, but Trump posted on social media that he had talked Putin beforehand and pressed him to make a deal. Trump also said he planned to call Putin after his face-to-face with Zelensky. “I think both presidents want to make a deal,” Trump said before the meeting.

Before his meeting with Trump, Zelensky made clear that Ukraine’s allies will be key in resolving the conflict.

“We are doing everything toward this, but whether decisions will be made depends on our partners—those who help Ukraine, and those who put pressure on Russia so that Russians feel the consequences of their own aggression,” Zelensky wrote on social media early Sunday.

A major point that Zelensky said he planned to raise is the territorial concessions that Putin has demanded, including the Donetsk region in Eastern Ukraine. Ukraine refuses to surrender the area.

The U.S. wants the Donetsk region to be a demilitarized “free economic zone,” which Zelensky has said he would consider if Russia withdraws its forces from areas it now controls.

On Saturday, Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv with drones, missiles, and aerial bombs, taking aim at the city’s power plants energy infrastructure.

The assault, Zelensky wrote on X at the time, showed that Putin isn’t serious about a peace agreement.

Zelensky called on Ukraine’s partners to keep up their support.

“Supplies for air defense must be sufficient and timely, especially now, when we need them most. There must be no delays in protecting lives,” he wrote before dawn on Saturday.

“Of course, we won’t reduce our diplomatic efforts. But diplomacy won’t work without security. Security must be ensured by the world’s strongest powers.”

In a video Saturday night, Putin said: “if Kyiv authorities are not willing to end the matter peacefully, we will achieve all the goals we have in the special military operation by military means.”

Zelensky flew to Florida after meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and calls with European leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. He said they discussed the 20-point proposal, Ukraine’s views on territorial issues, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and financial issues.

The European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, stood firmly for what she described on social media as “a just and lasting peace that preserves Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Ukraine’s security, she wrote, is “an integral part of the security of our continent.”

The European Commission, von der Leyen said, would keep pressuring the Kremlin, sustain its support for Ukraine, and “work intensely to accompany Ukraine on its path toward EU membership.”

Write to Janet H. Cho at janet.cho@dowjones.com