The meeting between US President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, scheduled for the coming days, shows significant progress in talks to resolve the Ukrainian conflict, Axios writes.
“This meeting is a sign of significant progress in the negotiations“, the article says. The author of the article, Barak Ravid, recalled Trump's words that he would meet with Zelensky only if he believed a deal was close.
An unnamed senior US official told Axios that the US had made “greater progress“ in negotiations with Russia and Ukraine in the past two weeks than in the entire past year.
On December 26, Kyiv Post, citing diplomatic sources, reported that Zelensky would likely travel to the United States for talks on December 28.
The meeting could take place at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
Zelensky later confirmed that an agreement had been reached to meet with US President Donald Trump in the coming days.
Kiev's plan for resolving the conflict differs significantly from the one discussed with the American side, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
„This "The plan is fundamentally different, if it can be called a plan at all, from the 27 points that we have been working on in recent weeks, starting in early December," he said on the program "60 Minutes."
The 20-point document was circulated by Ukrainian media the day before. It was allegedly provided to journalists by Volodymyr Zelensky. Its key provisions include a refusal to withdraw troops when Russia requests it, security guarantees similar to Article 5 of the NATO Charter, joint management of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant with Washington, and signing a non-aggression pact with Moscow without codifying it in Ukrainian law.
In addition, the text does not contain specific provisions on the status of the Russian language.
The diplomat stressed that Moscow continues to adhere to the negotiating path established during the Russian-American summit in Alaska on August 15. Without this, he said, no agreement can be reached.
Earlier on Friday, representatives of Moscow and Washington spoke by phone at the behest of Vladimir Putin. Presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov represented Russia, and several White House officials represented the American side. According to Reuters, Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president's special representative for investment and economic cooperation, also participated in the talks.