Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
Washington, December 29 (Xinhua) — The two sides are "much closer" to reaching a peace agreement on the Ukrainian crisis, US President Donald Trump said Sunday after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
"We are getting much closer, probably very close," he said.
However, there are no signs that any major breakthrough is in sight, although D. Trump described the talks as “excellent” with “significant progress.”
"This is not a one-day deal. This is a very complex issue," Trump said at a joint press conference with Zelenskyy after the meeting, during which both leaders also spoke with European leaders.
“I think we’ll find out one way or another in a few weeks,” Trump said. “These were very difficult negotiations.”
The thorny issues are widely believed to include a potential ceasefire timetable, the creation of a proposed demilitarized zone, the management of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and control of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
"We discussed all aspects of the peace agreement," Zelenskyy said of his meeting with Trump at a press conference, noting that the 20-point peace plan is currently "90 percent" complete. He cited the same figure earlier this month.
According to V. Zelensky, the United States, Europe, and Ukraine have almost 100 percent agreed on security guarantees for his country.
D. Trump noted that he does not like to name percentage figures, but “thinks they could be close to 95 percent” on the security issue.
"We may be very close. There are one or two very pressing issues, very complex issues, but I think we're doing everything well," Trump said. Neither Trump nor Zelenskyy were able to elaborate on the issues.
During the meeting, the presidents also spoke with European leaders, including the leaders of NATO and the European Union. Zelenskyy said that Donald Trump could meet with him and European leaders in Washington in January, as he and Trump "agreed that our teams will meet in the coming weeks to finalize all the issues under discussion."
Before meeting with V. Zelensky, D. Trump said that he had "a good and very productive phone conversation" with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Sunday morning.
Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said in Moscow that during a lengthy telephone conversation, the two leaders agreed that a long-term peace settlement is better than the temporary ceasefire insisted on by Ukrainians and Europeans.
Vladimir Putin agreed to the American side's proposal to continue work on regulating the situation around Ukraine within the framework of two specially created working groups. One will address security issues, and the other, economic matters, The New York Times quotes Yuri Ushakov.
Welcoming V. Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago, D. Trump declined to say whether he expected a peace agreement on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict to be reached by the end of this year. –0–
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