“Our meeting went very well. We discussed – some would say 95% – I don't know exactly how much, but we've made great progress toward ending this war“, said US President Donald Trump at a press conference after his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Florida.
The conversation between the leaders of the United States and Ukraine took place in Florida, at Trump's estate “Mar-a-Lago“ and lasted more than two hours. The main topic of the conversation was the 20-point peace plan developed by the Ukrainian side.
The parties discussed the provisions of the counter-peace plan proposed by Europe and Ukraine in response to the proposals of Russia and the United States.
After the talks, Trump and Zelensky gave a press conference to report on the progress of the negotiations.
In response to a question about the progress that the two sides have made in providing security guarantees, Trump also estimated the progress at 95%.
“But I don't like to talk about percentages. I just think we're doing very well. We're probably very close. "There are one or two very thorny issues, very complex issues," Trump said.
Trump acknowledged that Ukraine would have to hold a referendum.
In early December, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio identified the 20 percent of Donbas territory that remains under Kiev's control as a key point in the dispute.
Ahead of the talks, Trump had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressing confidence that both leaders were determined to reach an agreement and were committed to a peaceful resolution of the conflict, and said he would call Putin again after the talks.