In a significant diplomatic development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced plans to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the upcoming weekend. This meeting is poised to focus on critical issues concerning security guarantees for Ukraine, as highlighted by President Zelenskyy during a press briefing.
According to Zelenskyy, the discussions will revolve around a comprehensive 20-point plan, which is reportedly nearing completion, with about 90% of its details finalized. This plan is expected to address crucial security concerns that have been at the forefront of Ukraine’s international priorities.
In addition to security matters, the two leaders are anticipated to explore a potential “economic agreement.” However, Zelenskyy expressed uncertainty about reaching a conclusive agreement by the meeting’s end, leaving some aspects of the economic discussions open-ended.
The dialogue is also set to cover “territorial issues,” an area of significant importance to Ukraine’s ongoing geopolitical strategy. President Zelenskyy emphasized the need for broader international involvement, stating a desire for European participation in these discussions. However, he acknowledged the challenges of organizing such involvement on short notice.
“We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,” Zelenskyy remarked, underscoring the importance of a collaborative international approach to these pressing issues.
“We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said.
The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.
Zelenskyy’s comments came after he said Thursday that he had a “good conversation” with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that the Kremlin had already been in contact with U.S. representatives since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently met with U.S. envoys in Florida.
“It was agreed upon to continue the dialogue,” he said.
Trump is engaged in a diplomatic push to end Russia’s all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war, if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.
Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been “slow but steady progress” in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.
In fact, Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas – an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk – the two areas that make up the Donbas.
On the ground, one person was killed and three others were wounded when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, while six people were wounded in a missile strike on the city of Uman, local officials said Friday.
Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power. Energy and port infrastructure were damaged by drones in the city of Odesa on the Black Sea.
Meanwhile, Ukraine said that it struck a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.
Ukraine’s General Staff said that its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region.
“Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it wrote on Telegram.
Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said that a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.
Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple the Ukraine’s power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”
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