President Donald Trump on Sunday said that he had a “very productive” phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was scheduled to arrive at Mar-a-Lago in U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to end the war between the two countries.
“I just had a good and very productive telephone call with President Putin of Russia prior to my meeting, at 1:00 PM today, with President Zelenskyy,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
The high-stakes conversations come at a key moment in efforts to end nearly four years of war initiated when Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022.
Zelenskyy, who arrived in Florida early Sunday, has said the two leaders plan to talk about economic and security agreements and the “territorial issues” that remain major sticking points between Russia and Ukraine.
While Zelenskyy told reporters this week that a 20-point peace proposal is roughly 90% ready, it’s unclear if the outcome of the peace talks would be acceptable to Putin. Chief obstacles to an agreement with Russia include the Donbas areas most highly coveted by Putin, U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine, and the status of Europe’s largest nuclear plant.
