Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy had another meeting aimed at brokering peace between Russia and Ukraine.
The U.S. leader met the Ukrainian president at his Palm Beach, Fla., home and resort, Mar-a-Lago, on Sunday, Dec. 28.
During their time together, Trump, 79, and Zelenskyy, 47, discussed ending the war in Ukraine, and how it is becoming more of a reality.
“We could be very close,” Trump said, according to CNN. “There are one or two very thorny issues, very tough issues. But I think we’re doing very well.”
“We made a lot of progress today, but really, we’ve made it over the last month,” he continued. “This is not a one-day process. It’s very complicated stuff.”
For his part, Zelenskyy agreed, stating, per The Hill: “We discussed all the aspects of the peace framework.”
Two days prior to the politicians’ Dec. 28 meet-up, Politico reported that Trump was optimistic about his meeting with Zelenskyy.
“I think it’s going to go good with him. I think it’s going to go good with [Vladimir] Putin,” Trump said, further explaining that he planned to speak with the Russian president “soon, as much as I want.”
Trump also told The New York Post, “I think we have a good shot at [a ceasefire]. I think [Ukraine] want to do it now, and I think that Russia wants to do it. But every time one wants to do it, the other doesn’t.”
However, the president also maintained in his remarks to Politico that he held the cards over Zelenskyy.
“He doesn’t have anything until I approve it,” Trump said of the Ukrainian president’s plan for peace. “So we’ll see what he’s got.”
This latest meeting followed a contentious White House encounter between Trump, Zelenskyy and Vice President JD Vance back in February.
During that meeting, the U.S. planned to sign a natural resources agreement with Ukraine and make progress on negotiating a peace deal. However, the visit quickly turned into an aggressive confrontation, with Trump and Vance, 41, berating the Ukrainian president.
Vance accused Zelenskyy of being “disrespectful” for trying to litigate U.S.-Ukraine policy in front of the American journalists gathered in the Oval Office.
“You should be thanking the president for trying to bring you into this conference,” Vance angrily told Zelenskyy, who replied, “We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel, because you’re in no position to dictate that.”
Immediately after Zelenskyy left the White House, dozens of world leaders jumped to his defense and criticized the behavior of the Trump administration.
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A few months later, Trump invited Zelenskyy back, along with seven other European leaders. At the time, they had a “productive meeting” as a show of support for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
The White House summit in August came just a few days after the U.S. president flew to Alaska to meet with Putin in person. Despite presenting the Russian president with a personal plea from first lady Melania Trump, Trump returned home without a deal.
Despite that disappointment, Trump maintained that he was the man to get the job done.
During the August 18 conference with Zelenskyy and other leaders, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Trump was caught on a hot mic.
“I think he [Putin] wants to make a deal. I think he wants to make a deal for me, you understand that?” he said. “As crazy as it sounds.”
(People)
