Trump "If Ukraine talks go well, deal could be reached within weeks... some convergence on Donbas"

U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 28th (local time) that the end-of-war negotiations in the Russia-Ukraine war "if they go well, could be concluded within a few weeks."

After meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida that day, Trump said at a joint briefing that they were about '95%' of the way to an agreement on the end-of-war negotiations.

Trump said territorial issues, such as the Donbas region, which are considered the biggest obstacle to the end-of-war negotiations, "are moving in the right direction" and "have not been resolved yet but the (positions of Russia and Ukraine) have come much closer."

Russia is demanding that Ukraine completely withdraw its forces from eastern Donetsk and cede territory in the Donbas region. Meanwhile, Ukraine wants to stop fighting on the current frontlines.

As the positions of the two sides ran in parallel, the United States also proposed creating a demilitarized zone and a free economic zone in Donetsk, which is partially controlled by Ukraine.

Regarding another issue, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Trump emphasized that "President Putin is actually working with Ukraine to operate it" and "in that respect he is very cooperative."

Trump said at the meeting with President Zelensky that "much progress has been made toward an end to the war."

He also relayed his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the meeting, saying "Russia will also help rebuild Ukraine. Russia wants Ukraine to do well."

Trump reportedly called President Putin and European leaders after the meeting to explain the results.

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