In a high-stakes diplomatic flurry, Ukrainian officials are urgently seeking a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump in the United States this week. The aim of the visit would be to finalize the core terms of a U.S.-backed peace proposal intended to end the nearly four-year conflict with Russia.
⏳ The Push to Finalize the Deal
The call for an immediate meeting comes as the Trump administration presses for an agreement on its peace framework, with a suggested initial deadline of Thanksgiving (November 27th), though U.S. officials have since indicated the deadline is flexible.
- Ukrainian Confirmation: On Tuesday, November 25, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense
- Council Secretary, Rustem Umerov, stated: “We look forward to organizing a visit of Ukraine’s president to the U.S. at the earliest suitable date in November to complete final steps and make a deal with President Trump.”
- Progress in Negotiations: The drive for a leaders’ meeting follows intensive, multi-sided talks over the weekend. U.S. and Ukrainian officials met in Geneva and reportedly produced an “updated and refined peace framework.”
- The original 28-point proposal—which drew intense criticism from Kyiv and European allies for favoring Russian demands, such as ceding territory and limiting the Ukrainian military—was substantially revised and cut down to 19 points following the Geneva discussions.
📝 Core Terms Agreed, Sensitive Issues Remain
- While Umerov suggested that Ukraine has reached a “common understanding on the core terms” of the revised proposal, President Zelenskyy acknowledged that the most sensitive issues still need to be resolved directly with his U.S. counterpart.
- Zelenskyy on the Plan: “As of now, after Geneva, there are fewer points, no longer 28, and many correct elements have been incorporated into this framework… The sensitive issues, the most delicate points, I will discuss with President Trump.”
- The remaining sensitive points are understood to include:
- Territorial Integrity: The fate of Ukrainian territories currently occupied by Russia, which Kyiv and its European allies firmly insist cannot be legally recognized as Russian.
- Security Guarantees: The specifics of the security assurances the U.S. would provide Ukraine, particularly after the original proposal ruled out NATO membership.
- Military Limitations: Any final restrictions on the size and capabilities of the Ukrainian armed forces.
🌍 Parallel Diplomacy in the Gulf
- Adding to the complexity, separate high-level discussions involving U.S., Russian, and Ukrainian officials have been taking place in Abu Dhabi this week. U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, a key figure in the Trump administration’s peace efforts, has been engaged in bilateral talks with Russian and Ukrainian representatives in the Gulf state.
- A U.S. official involved in the negotiations stated on Tuesday that the talks are “going well” and that the teams remain “very optimistic,” suggesting a sense of urgency to finalize the agreement.
- The potential meeting between the two Presidents in the U.S. this week is viewed as the final step needed to translate the diplomatic progress from Geneva and Abu Dhabi into a definitive agreement.