Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is seeking to end the ongoing conflict with Russia by enlisting the assistance of former President Donald Trump.
In an interview with Axios, Zelensky expressed his willingness to propose a new peace plan to a national referendum, contingent on Russia agreeing to a 60-day ceasefire.
On Friday morning, Zelensky disclosed his intention to make an impromptu visit to Trump’s ‘Winter White House’ in Florida, aiming to broker a peace agreement before the year concludes.
He took to his X account to announce that his chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, had updated him on recent discussions with U.S. representatives.
“We are not losing a single day,” Zelensky stated, expressing optimism about an upcoming high-level meeting with Trump.
Zelensky is hopeful that significant progress can be made in the negotiations before the New Year arrives.
The Kiev Post reported Friday that Zelensky is ‘expected to travel to Florida in the coming days for high-stakes talks in Mar-a-Lago – a potential venue for a meeting with US leadership.’
Trump has no public events on his schedule on Friday, and the White House did not immediately respond to a Daily Mail request for comment to confirm details about a potential meeting.
President Donald Trump welcomes Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky as he arrives for a meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on October 17, 2025
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump participate in a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 18, 2025
The talks at Trump’s Florida residence are expected to focus on the structure, timing, and substance of a potential ceasefire framework.
Zelensky earlier held a marathon call on Christmas Day with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, which he described as an intensive discussion on how to halt the fighting.
‘We have some new ideas,’ Zelensky said after the call. ‘Some documents are already prepared. As I see it, they are nearly ready, and some documents are fully prepared.’
Trump has done his best to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine since he took office in January, yet to no avail.
In an interview with Politico earlier this month, Trump erupted at Zelensky for not accepting his Ukraine peace deal and warned that Russia has the ‘upper hand’ in the war.
The President said at the time that the Ukrainian leader needs to ‘get his act together and start accepting things’.
Trump also issued withering criticism for America’s ‘weak’ European allies, accusing them of ‘talking too much’ while ‘not delivering’ peace for the Ukrainian people.
‘I think they’re weak,’ the commander-in-chief told Politico in an interview. ‘But I also think that they want to be so politically correct.’
‘I think they don’t know what to do,’ he added. ‘Europe doesn’t know what to do.’
Trump last month ratcheted pressure on Zelensky and Vladimir Putin as he unveiled a 28-point peace plan, modeled on his landmark Gaza deal.
However, the plan faces significant hurdles, particularly concerning Ukraine’s potential territorial concessions to Russia and measures to protect against future military action.
During a visit to the White House back in February, Zelensky also famously got into a spat Vice President JD Vance.
Vance publicly dressed down Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for not being respectful enough to President Donald Trump during a dramatic Oval Office meeting at the White House back in February.
At the time, the vice president launched into attack mode after he felt Trump was being disrespected by the Ukrainian president.
‘Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media,’ Vance said after Zelensky repeatedly interrupted and disputed statements made by Trump.
A source familiar with the meeting at the White House told DailyMail.com at the time that Zelensky’s demeanor was surprising to American officials in the room.
‘No one expected the meeting to play out as it did, because nobody expected [him] to act that way,’ the source said.
Vance noted that Biden stood up for four years and ‘talked tough’ while ‘thumping his chest’ but Putin invaded Ukraine anyway.
‘The path to peace and the path to prosperity is maybe engaging in diplomacy,’ Vance said back in February.
