The United States has offered Ukraine security guarantees for 15 years as part of a proposed peace plan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday, adding that he would prefer a much longer U.S. commitment to deter Russia from any renewed land grab.
U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Zelenskyy on Sunday at his Florida resort and said Ukraine and Russia are “closer than ever before” to a peace settlement. But negotiators have yet to resolve major issues, including which forces would withdraw from which parts of Ukraine and the fate of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, one of Europe’s largest.
Trump said the monthslong U.S.-led negotiations could still collapse.
“Without security guarantees, realistically, this war will not end,” Zelenskyy told reporters in voice messages responding to questions sent via WhatsApp.
Ukraine and Russia have been in conflict since 2014, when Moscow illegally annexed Crimea and separatists backed by Russia seized parts of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. Russia launched a full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.
Details of the proposed guarantees have not been made public. Zelenskyy said they would cover monitoring of any agreement and the “presence” of partner countries. He did not elaborate. Russia has said it would not accept the deployment in Ukraine of troops from NATO member states.
Trump told reporters Monday that he would consider extending U.S. guarantees beyond 15 years, Zelenskyy said. He added that any guarantees would require approval by the U.S. Congress and by parliaments in other countries involved in overseeing a settlement.
Zelenskyy also said he wants the 20-point peace plan under discussion to be approved by Ukrainians in a national referendum. But he said holding such a vote would require at least a 60-day ceasefire, and he said Moscow has shown no willingness to pause the fighting without a broader settlement.
Trump, Putin speak as Russia alleges drone attack
Trump had “a positive call” Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X. Trump later described the conversation as “a very good talk” and said negotiators still faced “a few very thorny issues.”
“If we get them resolved, you’re going to have peace,” Trump said.
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Trump is pressing Ukraine to pursue a comprehensive agreement rather than seek a temporary ceasefire. Putin has insisted on a full settlement before any truce.
Ushakov said Putin told Trump that Ukraine tried to attack the Russian leader’s residence in northwestern Russia with long-range drones shortly after Trump met with Zelenskyy on Sunday. Ushakov said the incident would prompt Moscow to review its negotiating position and that the alleged attack “will not be left without a serious response.”
Zelenskyy denied Russia’s claim, calling it an attempt to manipulate the peace process. He said it was “another lie” and argued Moscow was rattled by progress in talks.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Ukraine launched the alleged attack overnight from Sunday to Monday using 91 long-range drones in the Novgorod region.
“I don’t like it. It’s not good,” Trump said of the claim, adding that Putin raised it during their call.
Putin says Russian forces are advancing
Putin on Monday claimed Russian troops are advancing in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and pressing an offensive in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, as negotiations appear to be approaching a decisive phase.
Putin has sought to portray Russia as negotiating from a position of strength as Ukrainian forces try to hold off a larger army. At a meeting with senior military officers, he emphasized creating military buffer zones along the Russian border.
“This is a very important task as it ensures the security of Russia’s border regions,” Putin said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Kyiv’s allies will meet in Paris in early January to “finalize each country’s concrete contributions” to security guarantees.
In Kyiv, skepticism about peace
On Kyiv’s snowy streets, some Ukrainians expressed doubt that the talks would produce a durable peace.
A military veteran who uses the call sign Sensei, in keeping with Ukrainian military rules, said Putin cannot be trusted. Sensei joined the military in 2022 and said he was wounded that year during fighting for the eastern city of Bakhmut. Now, he said, almost no one from his company is still alive.
“But all these sacrifices, they are not in vain,” said Sensei, 65. “We need to prove … that we exist, that we are, that we have the right to our existence, to our territory, to our culture, to our language.”
Denys Shpylovyi, a 20-year-old student home for the holidays, said Trump’s readiness to accept Putin’s arguments has placed Zelenskyy in a difficult position.
“But I’m thankful for some progress,” he said. “They are speaking, and maybe someday there will be hope.”
Oleh Saakian, a Ukrainian political scientist, said it was encouraging that Zelenskyy is building a relationship with Trump, but he noted that no agreement has been reached.
“Nothing has been adopted yet, nothing has been signed yet,” he said. He argued the talks, as described so far, are not bringing the sides closer to a just peace because they treat Russia and Ukraine as equals despite the invasion and, he said, disregard international law and European security.
