Trump claims he has "the ingredients" for a peace agreement in Ukraine

Barcelona"We have the ingredients for a [peace] agreement," declared US President Donald Trump, who greeted his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, with a handshake on the steps of his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, a moment immortalized in a photograph. The two leaders made a brief appearance before the media just before the start of their meeting to discuss the peace plan they intend to propose to Russia to end the war after nearly four years of conflict. The plan is a twenty-point document, which Moscow has so far rejected. In their brief appearance before the press, Trump and Zelensky answered a few questions from reporters, but did not clarify how they plan to resolve the remaining issues in the peace agreement that continue to generate reluctance in both Kyiv and Moscow. Nevertheless, Trump expressed his conviction that this time both Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin want to reach a peace agreement, but acknowledged that he has no deadline for making it a reality or for ending the war. Regarding Ukraine's future security guarantees, the US president described them as "Silly," a journalist asked him about it. "There will be a security agreement. It will be a solid agreement. European nations are very involved," he declared afterward, trying to deflect the question. He added that European countries "have been truly fantastic" and "are all fantastic people."

Shortly before the start of the meeting, Trump spoke by phone with Putin, as he himself reported and the Kremlin confirmed. The US president also announced that he would speak again with his Russian counterpart after the meeting with Zelensky to "continue the negotiations." He further warned that any peace plan proposed in Moscow must have his approval to move forward. This puts Zelensky in a difficult position.

Sunday's meeting between the US president and his Ukrainian counterpart is the first between the two leaders since Trump refused to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.

Intensification of attacks

In the days leading up to the meeting, Russia has intensified its attacks against the Ukrainian capital with missiles and drones. with the aim of pressuring Zelensky to concede and accept some of Russia's demands to end the war. The Russian offensive continued Saturday night with a "massive bombing" of Kherson, according to the state emergency service in this southern Ukrainian city.

The peace plan that Ukraine has drawn up together with the United States and European partners It proposes a non-aggression pact, security guarantees for Kyiv, and Ukraine's accession to the European Union in the medium term. It also stipulates that Russia and Ukraine will irrevocably commit not to attack each other. Zelensky, however, believes that the continued Russian attacks demonstrate that the Russian president "doesn't truly want peace."

One of the sticking points in the peace agreement is the management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe and one of the ten largest in the world, located in southeastern Ukraine. Currently, the plant is occupied by Russia, and the peace proposal championed by Trump envisions its future joint operation by Ukraine, the United States, and Russia. Another thorny issue in the negotiations is control of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, comprised of two subregions: Donetsk and Luhansk. Currently, Moscow controls 75% of the Donetsk region and 99% of neighboring Luhansk. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated in a closed-door meeting with the Russian business elite that he will only accept a peace agreement if Ukraine hands over the entire Donbas region to Moscow, including areas still under Kyiv's control.

As an alternative, the US peace plan proposes creating a "free economic zone" in this region. Zelensky believes this proposal still leaves many questions unanswered, such as who will administer this territory and how Russia's troop withdrawal will be guaranteed.

In fact, the Ukrainian president's priority is to guarantee Ukraine's future security, that is, to prevent future Russian aggression. However, Zelensky has shown a willingness to compromise and abandon the idea of Ukraine joining NATO in order to secure a peace agreement by any means necessary. In return, the Ukrainian leader and his European allies are pressing for Ukraine to have security guarantees similar to those of Article 5 of the Atlantic Alliance, according to which an attack against one NATO member country should be considered an attack against all. However, it remains unclear whether Moscow would accept this condition.

Before traveling to Florida, Zelensky visited Canada on Saturday, met with Prime Minister Mark Carney, and secured significant economic support. Canada will provide Ukraine with aid worth 2.5 billion Canadian dollars (approximately 1.552 billion euros), which will allow Kyiv to access $8.4 billion in loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Zelensky is also scheduled to hold further talks with European leaders following his meeting with Trump on Sunday. European Union leaders Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa made it clear just hours before the meeting that they will work toward Ukraine's accession to the European Union.