U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday reiterated his claim that both Russia and Ukraine are 'closer than ever' to a peace deal as he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Florida resort.
He, however, acknowledged that the negotiations are complex and some of the thorniest details remain unresolved.
Trump and Zelenskyy met following a two-and-a-half-hour phone conversation between the U.S. president and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed," Trump said, describing his talks with Putin as "excellent."
The issues on which a consensus has not been reached yet include whether Russia can keep the Ukrainian territory it controls, as well as security guarantees for Ukraine to ensure it is not invaded again in the future.
While Moscow insists on getting all of the Donbas, Kyiv wants the map frozen at the current battle lines. The U.S. has proposed a free economic zone if Ukraine leaves the area.
Russia controls all of Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, and since its invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago has taken control of about 12 per cent of its territory, including about 90 per cent of the Donbas, 75 per cent of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and slivers of the Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, according to Russian estimates.
After their discussion, Trump and Zelenskyy called several European leaders and agreed to host them again in Washington in January.
"Our attitude is very clear. That's why President Trump said this is a very tough question and, of course, we have different positions with Russia on it," Zelenskyy said, referring to the contentious issues.
Trump said he still believes Putin is "very serious" about ending the war, even as Russia launched another round of massive attacks on Kyiv as Zelenskyy travelled to the US.
"In a few weeks, we will know one way or the other, I think," Trump said. "We could have something where one item that you're not thinking about is big, breaks it up. Look, it's been a very difficult negotiation. Very detailed."