U.S. President Donald Trump has asserted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “isn’t ready” to endorse a U.S.-crafted peace plan intended to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, expressing frustration that Zelenskyy has not engaged with the proposal.
Trump’s remarks came after three days of negotiations in Florida between U.S. and Ukrainian officials aimed at narrowing disagreements over the administration’s plan. Speaking to reporters on Sunday night ahead of the Kennedy Center Honors, Trump suggested that the Ukrainian leader was holding up progress.
“I’m a little disappointed that President Zelensky hasn’t yet read the proposal—as of a few hours ago. His people love it, but he hasn’t,” Trump said.
He continued, “Russia, I believe, is fine with it, but I’m not sure Zelensky is. His people love it. But he isn’t ready.”
Despite Trump’s claim, Russian President Vladimir Putin has not publicly endorssed the White House plan. In fact, he previously dismissed elements of Trump’s proposal as unworkable, even though initial drafts were reportedly strongly favorable to Moscow.
Trump’s relationship with Zelenskyy has remained strained throughout his second term, with the president repeatedly arguing that the war is a misuse of U.S. taxpayer funds. He has consistently pressured Ukraine to give up territory to Russia as a means of ending the nearly four-year conflict, which he says has caused unnecessary loss of life.
Following the Florida talks, Zelenskyy said Saturday that he had a “substantive phone call” with American and Ukrainian representatives involved in the discussions. He wrote on social media, “Ukraine remains committed to working in good faith with the American side to genuinely achieve peace.”
Trump’s comments coincided with Russia’s welcoming of the administration’s new national security strategy. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the updated strategic outline largely aligned with Moscow’s perspectives.
“There are statements in the document rejecting confrontation and supporting dialogue and constructive relations,” Peskov said, expressing hope that it would pave the way for “further productive cooperation with Washington on the Ukrainian settlement.”
The national security strategy, released Friday, states that improving U.S.–Russia relations and ending the war are essential U.S. interests needed to “restore strategic stability with Russia.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s outgoing Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum on Saturday, indicated that efforts to finalize a peace deal were nearing completion.
He said the agreement hinges on two unresolved issues: “territory, mainly the Donbas,” and the status of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Russia currently occupies most of Donbas—Donetsk and Luhansk—which it illegally annexed three years ago, along with the Zaporizhzhia plant, which is offline but still requires stable electricity to cool its six inactive reactors.
Kellogg did not participate in the Florida negotiations and is scheduled to leave his position in January.
Leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany are expected to meet Zelenskyy in London on Monday.
As the diplomatic talks concluded, Russian missile, drone, and artillery attacks overnight and into Sunday killed at least four people across Ukraine. Strikes on infrastructure in the central city of Kremenchuk caused power and water outages.
Kyiv and Western partners accuse Russia of attempting to destroy Ukraine’s energy grid for a fourth consecutive winter—a tactic Ukrainian officials describe as “weaponizing” the cold. Additionally, three people were killed and 10 injured in shelling on Sunday in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.
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