KYIV, Ukraine (AP) 鈥� The United States is offering Ukraine for a period of 15 years as part of a proposed peace plan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday, though he said he would prefer an American commitment of up to 50 years to deter Russia from further attempts to by force.
U.S. President Donald Trump at his Florida resort on Sunday and insisted that Ukraine and Russia are 鈥渃loser than ever before鈥� to a peace settlement.
Negotiators are still searching for a breakthrough on key issues, however, including whose forces withdraw from where in Ukraine and the fate of Ukraine’s Russian-occupied , one of the 10 biggest in the world. Trump noted that the monthslong U.S.-led negotiations could still collapse.
鈥淲ithout security guarantees, realistically, this war will not end,鈥� Zelenskyy told reporters in voice messages responding to questions sent via a WhatsApp chat.
Ukraine has been fighting Russia since 2014, when it illegally annexed Crimea and Moscow-backed separatists took up arms in the Donbas, a vital industrial region in eastern Ukraine.
Details of the security guarantees have not become public, but Zelenskyy said Monday they include how a peace deal would be monitored as well as the 鈥減resence鈥� of partners. He didn鈥檛 elaborate, but Russia has said it won鈥檛 accept the deployment in Ukraine of troops from NATO countries.
Trump and Putin discuss peace efforts by phone
Trump on Monday had 鈥渁 positive call鈥� with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X. The two leaders had also spoken shortly before Trump鈥檚 talks with Zelenskyy on Sunday as the American president tries to steer the countries toward a settlement.
Later, to reporters, the U.S. president similarly characterized the call as 鈥渁 very good talk鈥� and said 鈥渨e have a few very thorny issues, as you can imagine鈥� in the negotiations to end the war.
鈥淚f we get them resolved, you鈥檙e going to have peace,鈥� he added.
Putin鈥檚 foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said Trump is pushing Ukraine to seek a comprehensive peace agreement and not demand a temporary respite for its military through a ceasefire. Putin has insisted on a full settlement before any truce.
In Monday鈥檚 call, Putin told Trump that Ukraine attempted to attack the Russian leader鈥檚 residence in northwestern Russia with long-range drones almost immediately after Trump鈥檚 Sunday talks with Zelenskyy.
The attack 鈥渃ertainly will not be left without a serious response,鈥� Ushakov said, adding that Moscow will now review its negotiating position.
Zelenskyy denied the Russian claim of an attack, describing it as an attempt to manipulate the peace process. He said it was 鈥渁nother lie鈥� and came about because Moscow is unnerved by progress in peace efforts.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Ukraine launched an attack on Putin鈥檚 residence in the Novgorod region overnight from Sunday to Monday using 91 long-range drones.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 like it. It鈥檚 not good,鈥� Trump said of the alleged attack on Putin鈥檚 home, confirming the Russian leader informed him of it during their call Monday morning.
Russia claims its forces are advancing
As indications suggest negotiations could come to a head in January, before the fourth anniversary of Russia鈥檚 full-blown invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Putin on Monday claimed that Russian troops are advancing in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine and are also pressing their offensive in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.
Putin has sought to portray himself as negotiating from a position of strength as Ukrainian forces strain to keep back the bigger Russian army.
He emphasized at a meeting with senior military officers the need to create military buffer zones along the Russian border. 鈥淭his is a very important task as it ensures the security of Russia鈥檚 border regions,鈥� Putin said.
said Kyiv鈥檚 allies will meet in Paris in early January to 鈥渇inalize each country鈥檚 concrete contributions鈥� to the security guarantees.
Trump said he would consider extending U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine beyond 15 years, according to Zelenskyy. The guarantees would be approved by the U.S. Congress as well as by parliaments in other countries involved in overseeing any settlement, he said.
Zelenskyy said he wants the 20-point peace plan under discussion to be approved by Ukrainians in a national referendum.
However, holding a ballot requires a ceasefire of at least 60 days, and Moscow has shown no willingness for a truce without a full settlement.
Ukrainians doubt Putin’s sincerity
On the snowy streets of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, people were skeptical about the chances of peace.
One military veteran who uses the call sign Sensei, in keeping with the rules of the Ukrainian military, said Putin鈥檚 record in power shows he can鈥檛 be trusted. Sensei joined the military in 2022 and was wounded that year during the battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Now, he said, almost nobody from his company is still alive.
鈥淏ut all these sacrifices, they are not in vain, because 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,鈥� the 65-year-old veteran told The Associated Press.
Denys Shpylovyi, a 20-year-old student who was home for the holidays, said Trump鈥檚 willingness to accept Putin鈥檚 arguments has put Zelenskyy in a difficult situation.
鈥淏ut I鈥檓 thankful for some progress. They are speaking, and maybe someday there will be hope,鈥� he said.
Oleh Saakian, a Ukrainian political scientist, said it was a good sign that Zelenskyy is managing to build a relationship with Trump, although he noted that 鈥渘othing has been adopted yet, nothing has been signed yet.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 see these negotiations bringing us closer to real peace, because they are based on equality between the aggressor and the victim, they are based on complete disregard for international law, and 鈥� disregard for European security,鈥� he said.
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Associated Press journalists Seung Min Kim in Washington, and Vasilisa Stepanenko and Volodymr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
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