Russia-Ukraine ceasefire possible... Trump meets Zelensky, "Final stage of peace talks"

Meeting in Florida

U.S. President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the 28th (local time) to discuss a proposal to end the war in Ukraine (peace negotiation plan).

President Trump met with President Zelensky at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and said that a "strong security guarantee for Ukraine" would be included in the Russia-Ukraine peace proposal.

He said, "There will be a security-related agreement," and called it "a strong agreement in which European countries are very deeply involved."

President Trump also said he believes Ukraine and Russia "will reach an agreement. The (peace proposal) negotiations are in the final stage," adding, "Too many people are dying," and stressing that "(Zelensky and Vladimir Putin) the two presidents want to reach an agreement."

On the deadline for the peace proposal negotiations, he said "There is no deadline" and said he would speak by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and European leaders after the meeting with President Zelensky.

Standing beside President Trump, President Zelensky said they would discuss 20 items of the peace proposal. He said, "I hope this leads to peace as quickly as possible," and added, "About 90% of this is content that the teams on both sides (the U.S. and Ukraine) have already agreed on."

The '10%' of the peace plan that President Zelensky said had not been agreed is known to be mainly related to territorial concessions. Russia is demanding that Ukraine fully withdraw its troops from eastern Donetsk and cede territory in the Donbas region. Conversely, Ukraine wants to stop fighting on the current front lines.

In this context, President Trump said, "There are aspects that are economically very beneficial to Ukraine," adding, "(Ukraine) has many parts to rebuild and huge added value can be created in that process."

This is interpreted to mean that the peace proposal to be discussed by the U.S. and Ukraine will include not only security guarantees for Ukraine but also postwar reconstruction plans.

Additionally, President Trump disclosed on the social media platform Truth Social that he had a "very productive and good" phone call with President Putin before the meeting with President Zelensky.

Seulgi Lee, Hankyung.com reporter seulkee@hankyung.com