Zelenskyy, Trump report substantial progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went face-to-face with U.S. President Donald Trump Sunday. They walked into a high-stakes meeting at Trump’s Florida resort Sunday afternoon aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.

This meeting was seen as a possible key deciding factor in whether the war in Ukraine will end almost four years into the Russian attack.

Trump maintained Sunday that Russia is serious about wanting to end the war, but he started the meeting with an announcement that caught some Ukrainians off guard.

As Zelenskyy arrived at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort on his peace mission, the American President said it’s time for the war to end.

“I think we’re in the final stages of talking. And we’re gonna see, otherwise it’s going to go on for a long time. It’ll either end or it’s going to go on for a long time and millions of additional people are going to be killed. Millions,” said Trump.

Trump praised Ukrainian bravery and said Russia is serious about peace, even as its military sent out battlefield video of the Russian flag in the middle of the devastation in Ukraine.

“The people of Ukraine, they want it to end. And the people of Russia want it to end. And the two leaders want it to end,” said Trump.

But the U.S. leader announced that he was on the phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin before Sunday’s meeting.

“We’re going to have a very good meeting today, I think. And I’m also calling President Putin back after the meeting, and we’ll continue negotiations,” said Trump.

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The head of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Konstantyn Sheweli, says that it sounds like the meeting was rigged.

“I think that arrangements have already been made. And I believe Trump is trying to settle this war based on the demands of Putin before the demands of Ukraine are met – which is disturbing considering that Ukraine is fighting for their very existence right now,” said Sheweli

Zelenskyy had done his own preparations for the meeting, stopping in Canada first and sitting down with Prime Minister Mark Carney Saturday for a phone conference with European leaders.

Carney said peace in Ukraine “requires a willing Russia.” He announced $2.5 billion worth of new Canadian economic aid for Ukraine.

Zelenskyy and Trump were expected to discuss a 20-point peace plan that would include a demilitarized zone in an area of Ukraine demanded by Russia, and U.S. guarantees that Ukraine would be safe from Russian attacks.

“Trump is really acting more as an agent of Russia and Putin than he is acting as an impartial peacemaker,” said Stefan Dolgert, political science professor at Brock University.

Dolgert is afraid that any peace deal that comes out of this Trump meeting could be one that rewards Russian aggression.

“If he was really interested in ending the bloodshed, he would support Ukraine in its effort to defend itself against an aggressor. There is a way to get to the ending of the bloodshed but it’s by standing up to the aggressor, not by appeasing Putin in the way that the western powers in the 1930s appeased Hitler,” said Dolgert.

Coming out of Sunday’s meeting, Zelenskyy said they had a great session that discussed elements of the peace plan and made progress. He called it a warm and substantial discussion, but added there is a lot more work to be done.

Trump said there are still one or two thorny issues to work out like the Ukrainian land claimed by Russia, but said an agreement is getting closer.

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