Trump-Zelensky Meeting: Ukraine Peace Plan Talks in Florida

The Ukrainian president is scheduled to meet his American counterpart at Mar-a-Lago at 7 p.m. (Paris time). A telephone call between European leaders, Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump is planned immediately.

The Ukrainian president recognizes that two major sticking points appear in the talks between Washington and kyiv: the fate of the Donbass region, in eastern Ukraine, and the control of a nuclear power plant occupied by Russia.

These meetings come as more than a million Ukrainian homes are without electricity on Saturday in the capital kyiv and its region after new massive Russian strikes that occurred overnight and left two dead.

18h

Trump says he had ‘very productive’ call with Putin before meeting Zelensky

Donald Trump said Sunday he had a “very productive” call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, less than two hours before the start of his planned meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Florida.

“I just had a good, very productive telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, before my meeting, today at 1:00 p.m., with Ukrainian President Zelensky,” the American president wrote on his Truth Social network.

16h03

Telephone interview with Europeans planned after Zelensky-Trump meeting, according to kyiv

A telephone call between European leaders and the Ukrainian and American presidents is planned for Sunday after the meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump in Florida, a kyiv spokesperson announced.

A “telephone call between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and American President Donald Trump with European leaders is planned”, Serguiï Nykyforov, Mr. Zelensky’s spokesperson, told journalists, specifying that “the final list of participants is still being drawn up”.

21h05

Volodymyr Zelensky has “the full support” of Europeans before meeting Trump

The leaders of the main European countries, Canada, the EU and NATO assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of “their full support” on Saturday before his meeting with Donald Trump, said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. During a videoconference organized during his stopover in Canada, on the eve of a crucial meeting in Florida with the American president, Volodymyr Zelensky informed his supporters “of the progress of the negotiations”, said the spokesperson for the German leader, Stefan Kornelius, in a press release.

Friedrich Merz also assured that the efforts of Europeans and Canada for “a lasting and just peace in Ukraine” would be “in close coordination with the United States”. Volodymyr Zelensky is to meet with Donald Trump about the “sensitive issues” of the fate of the Ukrainian Donbass and Western security guarantees for Ukraine, as part of negotiations on the American plan to end the soon-to-be four-year war with Russia.

Despite these diplomatic efforts, massive Russian strikes on kyiv and its region killed two people and left more than a million homes without power. These new strikes show that Russia “does not want to end the war”, declared Volodymyr Zelensky, before his departure for Canada and the United States.

20h42

Russian strikes in Ukraine show Russia’s ‘determination to prolong the war’

Emmanuel Macron condemned on Saturday the massive Russian strikes on the city of kyiv and its region, which illustrate, according to him, Russia’s determination to prolong the war it started,” according to his entourage. “The President of the Republic expressed France’s condemnation of the new wave of Russian strikes that occurred overnight in Ukraine. He stressed that this wave of strikes once again illustrated the contrast between Ukraine’s willingness to build a lasting peace and Russia’s determination to prolong the war it started almost 4 years ago, including by continuing to attack civilians,” the source said.

The French president spoke during a telephone call between European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is in Halifax (Canada) on the eve of a meeting with US President Donald Trump on Sunday in Florida.

During the night from Friday to Saturday, kyiv was targeted by more than 519 drones and 40 missiles, of which 474 and 29 were shot down respectively, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. These attacks, which as in previous strikes targeted energy infrastructure, left two dead and around forty injured in kyiv and its region, local authorities said.

Emmanuel Macron stressed on Saturday “the need to continue working in these days for peace, emphasizing the need for a ceasefire backed by robust and lasting security guarantees for Ukraine”, which “will be central to any settlement”, according to the same source. “France is determined to work closely with the United States on this subject, building on the work carried out within the framework of the Coalition of Volunteers which it co-chairs with the United Kingdom and which brings together 35 countries”, continues the entourage of the French president. “The President of the Republic recalled that Europeans must be fully involved in discussions on subjects concerning them,” it was added.

19h22

Achieving peace in Ukraine requires “Russia ready to cooperate,” says Canadian Prime Minister

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney insisted on Saturday that any peace deal in Ukraine would require “a Russia ready to cooperate”, as he met Volodymyr Zelensky in Canada, en route to Florida to speak with Donald Trump. “We have the means and the possibility (to obtain) a just and lasting peace (in Ukraine), but this requires a Russia ready to cooperate,” said Mark Carney during a brief exchange with the press in Halifax alongside the Ukrainian president, who is due to meet his American counterpart on Sunday.

The Canadian and Ukrainian leaders were to have a bilateral exchange and then participate in a call with European leaders. These exchanges will focus on the ongoing negotiations to try to put an end to this conflict which has been going on for almost four years, on the eve of the meeting between the Ukrainian and American presidents which should focus on the thorny issue of territories and those of Western security guarantees. “Tomorrow I will have, I hope, a very important and very constructive meeting with President Trump,” Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday from Halifax, Canada.

These meetings come as more than a million Ukrainian homes are without electricity on Saturday in the capital kyiv and its region after new massive Russian strikes that occurred overnight and left two dead. “This attack constitutes, once again, Russia’s response to our peace efforts. And it really shows that Putin does not want peace, while we do,” insisted the Ukrainian president.

Condemning the “barbarity” of these strikes, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney insisted on the need to support “Ukraine in this difficult time”. He thus announced new economic aid of 2.5 billion Canadian dollars (1.5 billion euros) which should, according to him, enable international financing to be released “in order to begin” the process of rebuilding Ukraine.