A sense of peace: Are the Florida talks capable of bringing the conflict in Ukraine closer to resolution

Discussions on a deal to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian conflict "are at the final stage," Donald Trump said before starting talks with Zelensky at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Prior to the meeting, the US leader checked his watch with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The conversation took place on the initiative of the American side and lasted more than an hour, which caused serious excitement among Ukrainian officials. Moscow really expects the United States to continue to adhere to the agreements reached in Anchorage, Konstantin Kosachev, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council, confirmed to Izvestia. The expert community is confident that Trump will put pressure on Kiev to end the conflict as soon as possible. Whether the negotiations in Florida are capable of bringing the Ukrainian conflict to an end and how the obvious success of the Russian Armed Forces on the battlefield affects this process is in the Izvestia article.

Zelensky and Trump met in Florida

At the end of last year, Zelensky went on another visit to the United States to discuss a peace plan with Donald Trump on December 28. However, the head of the White House, before accepting it, decided to compare positions with his Russian counterpart.

Russian Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed that the call was initiated by the American side. This is the first telephone contact between the leaders in the last two and a half months and the ninth since the beginning of the year. It lasted one hour and 15 minutes.

During the conversation, Trump stated that he would focus on the agreements reached in Anchorage. According to Ushakov, the American president persistently expressed the idea of the need to end the conflict as soon as possible, and also became convinced of the Russian Federation's desire for a political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. In his social network Truth Social, Trump called the conversation good and very productive.

In Ukraine, after learning about the new conversation between Putin and Trump, they became wary. Officials from Zelensky's entourage, according to the Financial Times, considered that this circumstance could complicate the Ukrainian-American negotiations. And their fears are not without reason: after a conversation with the Russian president in October last year, according to Politico, the head of the White House changed his mind about sending long-range Tomahawk missiles to Kiev.

Zelensky, on the other hand, traditionally received parting words from his supporters before traveling to the States. On December 27, he spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and secured promises to provide Ukraine with $1.8 billion in economic aid.

And a few hours before the start of the Ukrainian-American talks, Zelensky spoke remotely with European partners. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as the prime ministers of Italy, Denmark, Poland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden took part in the conversation. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen, joined the discussion.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with Zelensky separately: he did not take part in this "meeting", citing a busy schedule. In particular, he was informed about the situation at the front. It was London that once dissuaded Kiev from the deal in Moscow, when the draft agreement was already initialed in Istanbul.

Because of the Ukrainians' visit, Trump had to interrupt his Christmas vacation: the head of the White House has been in Florida since December 20, where he plays golf every day. The day before the meeting, he spent more than five and a half hours doing this. The American president received the delegation from Kiev at his Mar-a-Lago estate, immediately hinting that this residence was very suitable for making deals.

Kyiv was represented by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov, Minister of Economy Alexei Sobolev, Head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andrei Gnatov, Adviser to the head of the Office of the President Alexander Bevz and First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislitsa. Washington was represented by the head of the State Department, Marco Rubio, the already traditional negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, as well as the head of the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth.

Before the start of negotiations in a closed format, the American leader said that he believes in the desire of Moscow and Kiev to conclude a deal, stressing that there are no deadlines on this issue, but the outlines of a deal on Ukraine are already available.

"I think we are at the final stage of negotiations," the US president said.

Trump believes that European countries will be heavily involved in maintaining peace after the settlement, and Kiev will receive economic benefits after the agreement is concluded. It is worth noting that Zelensky previously reported that the issue of territorial concessions was on the agenda of the meeting.

Ukraine is losing its negotiating position

Zelensky's visit to the United States takes place against the background of an extremely unfavorable situation for the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the front. Vladimir Putin was informed about the new successes of the Russian army - the liberation of the cities of Gulyai-Pole and Dimitrov - on December 27.

- As for Dimitrov, this is a serious step towards the complete liberation of the Donetsk People's Republic. Gulyai—Pole is the second largest city in the Zaporizhia region, and after its liberation, there are good prospects for the development of the offensive," the head of the Russian Federation commented on the situation.

Against this background, Russia's interest in withdrawing Ukrainian forces from the occupied territories is reduced to zero, the president said. Well, if the Kiev authorities do not want to come to peace, Moscow is ready to solve all the tasks facing it by armed means, he added.

"Trump is striving to conclude a peace deal as soon as possible, which he sees acceptable for today's Ukraine, especially given that Kiev's situation may only worsen further and then it will be necessary to negotiate with Moscow on new terms,— said HSE analyst Tigran Meloyan.

At the same time, Moscow does not see any willingness on the part of Kiev and its European allies to engage in constructive negotiations.

- Kiev does not give up trying to change the situation at the front, where the Russian army has firmly seized the strategic initiative. He terrorizes civilians and carries out sabotage against the civilian infrastructure of our country," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with TASS.

He noted that after the change of power in the United States, Europe became the main obstacle to peace in Ukraine: most of the countries of the continent continue to pump the Kiev regime with money and weapons.

As for the Ukrainian side, the issue of territories continues to be the most sensitive for it. Last Wednesday, Zelensky presented an updated peace plan to end the conflict, which allegedly retained only 20 points after discussions with the United States. The document is radically different from the version that the Russian and American sides have been working on since early December, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. Naturally, Moscow does not approve of the new version of the "peace agreement" for obvious reasons.

— If it turns out that these 20 points correspond to President Trump's vision, it will be a departure from the agreements that were worked out in Anchorage at the Russian-American summit. Let's hope that President Trump's position remains on the approaches that were agreed with President Putin in Anchorage," Konstantin Kosachev, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council, told Izvestia.

Meanwhile, there is a growing understanding in the West that Donald Trump is perhaps the only candidate for the role of mediator in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. In particular, Mark Rutte has already made this statement.

— In the quadrilateral diplomatic polygon of Russia, the United States, Europe and Ukraine, Americans show the greatest desire for the immediate formal signing of a peace agreement. In the name of the image of the main peacemaker of the Earth, Donald Trump is ready to sign a formal, theoretical and short—term peace rather than a real, practical and long-term one," American scientist Egor Toropov told Izvestia.

The Trump administration is indeed recording the momentum towards a peaceful settlement gained by Russia after the Alaska talks. But at the same time, she is well aware that she cannot allow the absolute surrender of Ukraine, as this can undermine confidence in the United States and American positions in the world, Tigran Meloyan is sure.

Most likely, the expert believes, Trump's insistence on achieving peace as soon as possible will continue in the future. This includes putting pressure on Zelensky and his team as a weak side - through, for example, further unwinding the corruption scandal in Ukraine.