Zelensky says he will meet with Trump again ‘in the near future’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this Friday (12/26) that he would soon meet US President Donald Trump. The announcement comes after the latest round of negotiations between Washington and kyiv resulted in an updated 20-point plan to end the war.

“We agreed on a high-level meeting with President Trump in the near future. Many things can be decided before the New Year,” Zelensky said on social media. According to him, Ukraine “will not lose a single day”.

Rustem Umerov reported on his latest contacts with the American side. We don’t waste a single day. We have agreed to a meeting at the highest level – with President Trump in the near future. Many things can be decided before the New Year. Glory to Ukraine!

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 26, 2025

These statements were made after Zelensky spoke on Thursday (12/25) with US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner about the end of the nearly four-year-old war.

On Wednesday (12/24), the Ukrainian president unveiled the new version of the American plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, negotiated weeks ago between Washington and kyiv. Unlike the original version of this document, written by Washington, the updated version of the draft leaves aside two of Moscow’s main impositions.

The new version provides for the freezing of the battle front, but does not resolve the question of a possible concession of territories to Russia. Furthermore, it eliminates the Kremlin’s demand that Ukraine officially renounce its aspiration to join NATO.

So far, the Russian government has not reacted to the proposals, but Moscow is unlikely to abandon its territorial demands, including that of Ukraine’s complete withdrawal from the Donbass region. Another issue that is expected to continue to hamper the negotiations is that of kyiv’s ambitions to join the Atlantic Alliance.

Asked about the issue on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was “formulating its position” and declined to comment on details. On Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said progress toward ending the war was “slow but steady.”

Exchange of territories between Russia and Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin told some of the country’s top businessmen that he might agree to exchange some territory controlled by his forces in Ukraine, according to reports revealed Friday by the Russian newspaper Kommersant. However, the Kremlin leader is adamant about taking Donbass in eastern Ukraine.

The article emphasizes that with the exception of this region, “a partial exchange of territories is not excluded”. Kommersant also points out that Putin said he remains ready to make the concessions he made in August in Anchorage, Alaska, during a meeting with Donald Trump. “Donbass is ours,” the Russian president reportedly told businessmen.

The negotiations did not pause the war. This morning, Russian drones struck three ships in the Odessa and Mykolaiv regions of southern Ukraine, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram on Friday. The attacked ships were sailing under the flags of Slovakia, Palau and Liberia. The bombings caused no casualties, but caused power cuts and damaged civilian warehouses in the Odessa region.

Kuleba also reported a Russian drone attack on the Kovel railway station in northwestern Ukraine, about 60 kilometers from the border with Poland. According to him, a locomotive and a freight car were damaged.

Find other reports on the world at RFI, partner of Metropolises.