President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will meet President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday, 28 December 2025, to work through a revised US‑brokered 20‑point plan and a separate package of US security guarantees. He described the document as “90%” complete, with the intent to settle remaining items at leader level. The White House has not yet confirmed the timing.
Moscow has publicly characterised contacts with Washington as showing “slow but steady progress”, while accusing Kyiv and some European capitals of attempts to “torpedo” the process. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said 25 December would be remembered as a milestone but added that any final push depends on political will.
Negotiators are weighing a demilitarised zone in eastern Ukraine - framed by US officials as a “free economic zone” - to avoid immediate adjudication of sovereignty. The concept relies on a mutual pullback and international monitoring; Kyiv has said policing and civil administration must remain under Ukrainian authority.
Territory remains the most difficult file. Russia continues to demand full control of the Donbas, while Ukraine rejects recognising Russian gains and says any arrangement must be accompanied by robust guarantees and national approval mechanisms.
On mechanics, Zelensky has floated symmetric pullbacks of 5–10km from the contact line for any buffer, while questioning why Russian forces would not withdraw deeper into occupied areas if Ukraine moves back. The distance and monitoring regime are still unresolved.
Energy governance is a second hard issue. For the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, drafters in Washington have proposed a three‑party operating consortium with equal shares for Ukraine, the US and Russia. Ukraine counters with a US–Ukraine joint venture to allocate its energy share, alongside a demilitarised area around Enerhodar.
Security architecture under discussion would, in effect, require US and European action if Russia attacks again, mirroring NATO’s Article 5 though short of formal accession. A separate guarantees instrument would be signed with the main agreement. The working draft also contemplates maintaining Ukraine’s peacetime force at around 800,000 personnel.
Fighting continues. In Kharkiv, local officials reported at least two fatalities after guided bombs struck a busy roadway; a separate strike hit Uman. Ukraine’s Air Force said it neutralised 73 of 99 drones overnight.
The leaders have met several times this year. Their 28 February Oval Office session ended abruptly after a heated exchange, whereas a working lunch at the White House took place on 17 October. Zelensky said he spoke for an hour on 25 December with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to prepare Sunday’s agenda.
Back‑channel contacts with Moscow are continuing. Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev met Trump’s team in Miami before taking US papers to Moscow; President Vladimir Putin’s aides say analysis is under way and that dialogue will continue.
Kyiv has pressed for European participation in leader‑level talks and for clear enforcement provisions: who polices a buffer, how breaches are verified, and how basic services would operate in any “free economic zone”. Zelensky said European involvement before Sunday may be hard to arrange.
On the ground, Ukraine said it struck the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia’s Rostov region with UK‑supplied Storm Shadow missiles, while Russia claimed to have downed several such missiles in recent days. These developments underscore how military pressure is running alongside the diplomacy.