Trump is more optimistic than ever about Ukraine after his meeting with Zelensky: “We are very close”

The main the outstanding point remains the future of Donbassthe eastern region that Russia has claimed for more than a decade and over which it went to war. Trump acknowledged it was a “big obstacle” but insisted the positions have moved closer together. “We are closer to an agreement on this,” he said. on the table follows the American proposal to create a special economic zone or free trade in certain parts of Donbass, a formula which would imply a Ukrainian withdrawal in certain areas in exchange for a broader economic and security framework, negotiated with Moscow and supervised by Washington.

Zelensky confirmed the degree of progress of the process. Thus, he explained that a 20-point peace plan, developed on the basis of an American proposal, It is accepted at around 90%. He also stressed that security guarantees between the United States and Ukraine are “100%” closed, a key message for kyiv, which considers this point to be essential. He added that Ukraine would be ready to put different aspects of the plan to a referendum, without specifying which ones or at what timea reference which underlines the internal political sensitivity of any territorial concession.

Trump insisted the negotiations were comprehensive and included prior contacts with Vladimir Putin. “We have already talked about almost everything, even with Putin. “We went into a lot of detail then and still today,” he said. Likewise, he announced who will continue to speak with Zelensky in the coming days and weeksand that there will be new immediate contacts, which implies that the process is now entering a phase of almost permanent negotiation.

After the first public appearance, Trump and Zelensky had a joint telephone conversation with several European leaders, which lasted more than an hour. The heads of government of United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Norwayas well as the Secretary General of NATO and President of the European Commission. According to Finnish President Alexander Stubb, “concrete measures” aimed at ending the war were discussed. Through this gesture, Trump sought to involve his allies and reduce European reluctance in the face of an accelerated negotiation led from Washington.

Ultimately, the US president called the meeting with Zelensky “excellent” and reinforced its message of maximum optimism. “I think we are much closer, maybe very close,” he said, convinced that the end of the conflict now depends on the resolution of the last political and territorial questions. In his speech, Trump once again presented himself as the only actor capable of speaking with all parties and imposing the outcome of a war that he considers to be entrenched.

This optimism contrasts with the reality on the ground. Negotiations are progressing as the war continues unabated in Ukraine. Alongside the high-level meeting in FloridaRussia has maintained its attacks on Ukrainian cities, highlighting the distance between the diplomatic push and the military situation, with a steady trickle of civilian casualties.

In the east of the country, a Russian bombing in Sloviansk left at least one dead and several injured, according to local authorities. In the south, in Kherson, artillery fire left a dozen civilians injured. These attacks coincided with Russia’s largest air offensive of the year against kyiv, where hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles were launched for more than ten hours. At least two people died and more than forty were injured, in addition to serious damage to energy infrastructure, leaving part of the population without heating in the midst of a cold spell.

This contrast reinforces the main unknown of the process: Is Putin ready to accept a real ceasefire or is he using negotiation as another tool in a strategy of attrition. Trump calls his contacts with the Kremlin “productive” and says an agreement is close, but Russian military operations continue without interruption. kyiv, for its part, insists that only firm and verifiable security guarantees would make lasting peace viable and prevent a repeat of the conflict.

This context explains Ukrainian caution and American pressure. After nearly four years of large-scale war and more than a decade of conflict in Donbass, the front has become a war of attrition without decisive advances. Russia has not succeeded in imposing itself militarily, but it has not abandoned its strategic objective of controlling eastern Ukraine and determining its orientation towards the West. Ukraine has resisted thanks to international aid, but at increasing human and economic cost.

In this scenario, Trump proposes a pragmatic solution, based on a combination of limited territorial concessions, economic incentives and a new security framework. The Donbass proposal is at the heart of this approach and, at the same time, its greatest political risk. In Europe, several governments fear that a rushed agreement would consolidate Russian aggression and create a dangerous precedent. Hence Trump’s insistence on keeping his allies informed, even though control of the process is clearly in the hands of the United States.

The negotiation is thus progressing between plans and diplomatic calls, in the long term, and that of a war which remains active every day. The outcome will depend on Moscow’s willingness to transform military pressure into a real political concession or, on the contrary, decide to prolong the conflict while negotiations are underway. Trump maintains the time is right, but the war is still on a year after he took office.