Trump-Zelensky meeting — expected agenda

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is eager to meet with US President Donald Trump as soon as possible to finalize the joint agreement between Ukraine and the United States on the terms of the ceasefire. According to Ukrainian and American officials, most of the updated peace plan's provisions have been preliminarily approved, though some key issues have been reserved for direct dialogue between the leaders.

Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, announced this, as reported by Axios.

Trump-Zelensky meeting: expectations

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to meet with Donald Trump as soon as possible — potentially before Thanksgiving — to finalize the terms of the joint agreement to end the war. According to Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian and American sides have reached a preliminary agreement on most points of the significantly revised plan. Yermak emphasized that Zelensky wants to discuss the complex and politically significant territorial conditions personally with Trump.

 "I hope the visit of President Zelensky will take place as soon as possible, because... it will be help President Trump to continue his historical mission to end this war. Because (Trump — ed.) can say: 'Look, this is confirmed and agreed, our position with the Ukrainians. We support it, and we continue now to speak with the Russians'," Yermak told.

Trump plans to leave Washington on Tuesday evening, the day before Thanksgiving, and stay at Mar-a-Lago until Sunday. Yermak emphasized that holding the meeting during the holiday period could have additional symbolic significance. He also emphasized that the main disagreement leaders need to overcome is the territorial issue. 

The initial 28-point plan included transferring more territories to Russia, in addition to those it currently controls. The American side insisted that Ukraine risks losing this territory anyway given the current state of the war, and this became an argument in the previous version of the document.

According to Yermak, Zelensky plans to discuss the remaining unresolved details with Trump. However, the updated project generally aligns with Ukraine's interests and considers its key "red lines." One defining aspect of the new document is the security guarantees that the United States and its European allies have agreed to provide Ukraine.

"I think it now looks very solid. I think it's a historical decision of President Trump and the United States to issue these strong security guarantees, which Ukraine never had before," Yermak said of the text on security guarantees.

He emphasized that future security guarantees would be legally binding and noted that the United States has responded positively to the proposal to formalize them in an official treaty. The initial draft of the document stated that the United States and NATO would consider a prolonged Russian attack on Ukraine to be an act of aggression against the entire "transatlantic community." 

It proposed that Ukraine refrain from joining NATO and hosting NATO troops in exchange for security guarantees. However, Kyiv has emphasized that it will not abandon its constitutional commitment to future NATO membership. The current draft contains 19 points, all of which directly relate to peace in Ukraine. Some formulations were changed to make the document more acceptable to Kyiv.

"My proposal is to forget about the 28 points. Life changes so quickly that now I think it's in the past. This is great, that our partners support us and listen us, and are working to make a plan which will be acceptable for Ukraine," Yermak added.

Read more about the peace talks:

Russia awaits temporary peace plan proposal — Lavrov says

Carries laser weapons — Ukraine targets Russian A-60 plane

What happens after the Peace Plan — Macron explained