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 were \u201cgetting a lot closer, maybe very close\u201d to an agreement to end Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, but that \u201cthorny issues\u201d were still there. Zelensky said two main issues outlined in a 20-point peace proposal remained to be resolved – control of Ukraine\u2019s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which is in Russian hands, and the fate of the Donbas area of eastern Ukraine. \u201cTwo questions remain: the station – how will the station operate? – and the territory,\u201d Zelensky told reporters on Monday. Underlining how far apart Kyiv and Moscow are on territory, Kremlin spokesman 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. \u201cWe are talking about the withdrawal of the regime\u2019s armed forces from the Donbas,\u201d Peskov said. He said a call was planned soon between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but did not say when. Security Guarantees Trump\u2019s 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\u2019s deadliest conflict since World War Two. 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, although they are all internationally recognised as Ukraine\u2019s sovereign territory. 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 the current front lines, and Washington has proposed a free economic zone if Ukraine pulls troops back. \u201cThere is no detailed concept for a free economic zone yet,\u201d 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 had been reached on security guarantees for Kyiv, although Trump said they were only 95pc ready. \u201cI told (Trump) that we have been at war for almost 15 years, and would very much like the guarantees to be for longer,\u201d Zelensky said, adding that he had asked Trump to consider a security deal for up to 50 years. Trump said on Sunday he expected European countries to \u201ctake over a big part\u201d 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 was being made on security guarantees, and countries in the so-called \u201cCoalition of the Willing\u201d would meet in Paris in early January to \u201cfinalise concrete contributions\u201d. Trust between Russia and Ukraine is low.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 has stepped up attacks on Ukraine\u2019s energy facilities as winter approached. 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 believed the Russian leader wants the war to end. \u201cIn my opinion, (Putin\u2019s) actions do not coincide with the seemingly peaceful rhetoric he uses in his dialogue with the US president,\u201d Zelensky said, questioning Putin\u2019s commitment to peace. Zelensky said he was 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 was 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\u2019s demands. Several Ukrainians who spoke to Reuters in Kyiv on Monday voiced scepticism about prospects for a lasting peace. \u201cPutin doesn\u2019t need territory; he doesn\u2019t need Donbas \u2014 he wants to destroy the Ukrainians. He destroys us as a nation,\u201d said Nadiia Yevtushenko, a 57-year-old Kyiv resident.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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