By Yuliia Dysa and Dan Peleschuk
Kyiv — Russia and Ukraine on Monday remained far apart on territorial issues that are blocking a peace deal, despite progress on security guarantees for Kyiv at talks between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump said after his talks with the Ukrainian president on Sunday that they are “getting a lot closer, maybe very close” to an agreement to end Russia’s war in Ukraine but that “thorny issues” are still there.
Zelensky said on Monday two main issues outlined in a 20-point peace proposal remain to be resolved: control of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which is in Russian hands, and the fate of the Donbas area of eastern Ukraine.
“Two questions remain: the station — how will the station operate? — and the territory,” Zelensky told reporters.
Underlining how far apart Kyiv and Moscow are on territory, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine must withdraw its troops from the small part of Donbas that it still controls, and that Kyiv would lose more land if it did not agree to a deal. “We are talking about the withdrawal of the regime’s armed forces from the Donbas,” Peskov said.
The White House said Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a “positive call” on Monday about the war in Ukraine.
Trump’s decision to hold talks with Zelensky in Florida on Sunday had widely raised hopes of at least some progress being made towards ending what has become Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War 2.
Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014. It claims Donbas — comprising the Donetsk and Luhansk regions — as well as the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, though they are all internationally recognised as Ukraine’s sovereign territory.
Earlier, Putin ordered his army to press on with its campaign to take full control of the Zaporizhzhia region, after a Russian commander said Moscow’s forces were 15km from its biggest city.
Russia wants Kyiv to withdraw troops from parts of the Donetsk region it has failed to occupy in four years of war since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Kyiv wants fighting halted along current front lines, and Washington has proposed a free economic zone if Ukraine pulls troops back.
“There is no detailed concept for a free economic zone yet,” Zelensky said.
Russia has rejected the idea of a ceasefire to allow a referendum to be held on any territorial concessions by Ukraine.
One sign of progress on Sunday came when Zelensky said a bilateral agreement has been reached on security guarantees for Kyiv, though Trump said they were only 95% ready.
“I told [Trump] that we have been at war for almost 15 years and would very much like the guarantees to be for longer,” Zelensky said, adding that he asked Trump to consider a security deal for up to 50 years.
Trump said on Sunday he expects European countries to “take over a big part” of that effort with US backing. Agreement on such moves could be complicated as Russia has said any foreign troop deployment in Ukraine would be unacceptable.
French President Emmanuel Macron said progress is being made on security guarantees, and countries in the “coalition of the willing” will meet in Paris in early January to “finalise concrete contributions”.
Low trust
Despite the recent peace overtures and some exchanges of prisoners of war, mistrust runs deep between Ukraine and Russia.
Russia launched a heavy attack on Ukraine before the talks in Florida began and stepped up attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities. Large parts of the capital, Kyiv, were without power on Monday after the strike as temperatures were below freezing.
Trump repeated on Sunday after his call with Putin that he believes the Russian leader wants the war to end.
“In my opinion, [Putin’s] actions do not coincide with the seemingly peaceful rhetoric he uses in his dialogue with the US president,” Zelensky said, questioning Putin’s commitment to peace.
Zelensky said he is open to any format of communication with Russia, and a meeting would be possible after Trump and European leaders agree on the framework for peace. Peskov said no call between Putin and Zelensky is being discussed.
Putin has said Russia will achieve its aims in Ukraine by force if Kyiv does not want to resolve the conflict diplomatically, making clear it must accept Moscow’s demands.
Update: December 29 2025
This story has been updated with new information.
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