Tags: donald trump | volodymyr zelenskyy | ukraine | russia | peace deal

Trump: Zelenskyy 'Doesn't Have Anything' Without His Approval

By    |   Friday, 26 December 2025 03:58 PM EST

President Donald Trump is throwing cold water on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's new 20-point peace plan ahead of their Sunday meeting at Mar-a-Lago.

"He doesn't have anything until I approve it," Trump told Politico.

"We'll see what he's got."

Trump believes he will have a productive meeting with Zelenskyy and also hopes to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin soon.

"I think it's going to go good with him," Trump said to Politico.

"I think it's going to go good with Putin."

The president said he will meet with Putin "as much I want."

The latest plan from Zelenskyy is a 20-point proposal that would freeze the war on its current front line but open the door for Ukraine to pull back troops from the east, where demilitarized buffer zones could be created, according to details revealed by Zelenskyy this week.

The Ukrainian president recently met with special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, which he called a "good conversation."

A senior U.S. official described the discussions to Axios as "positive and constructive," claiming the administration has made more headway in the past two weeks than has been achieved in the last year of stalled diplomacy.

The meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump will also focus on management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and territorial control of Donbas, the eastern region claimed by Moscow, Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy's plan also demands Russia withdraw its forces from a piece of land in Donetsk.

On Friday, Russia accused Zelenskyy and his EU backers of seeking to "torpedo" a U.S.-brokered plan to stop the fighting.

Russia signaled its opposition to the plan ahead of the Florida talks.

The Kremlin said foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov held telephone talks with U.S. officials, and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov criticized Zelenskyy's stance.

"Our ability to make the final push and reach an agreement will depend on our own work and the political will of the other party, especially in a context where Kyiv and its sponsors — notably within the European Union, who are not in favor of an agreement — have stepped up efforts to torpedo it," Ryabkov said on Russian TV.

He said the proposal drawn up with Zelenskyy's input "differs radically" from points initially drawn up by U.S. and Russian officials in contacts this month.

"Without an adequate resolution of the problems at the origin of this crisis, it will be quite simply impossible to reach a definitive accord," Ryabkov added.

He said any deal had to "remain within the limits" fixed by Trump and Putin when they met in Alaska in August or else "no accord can be reached."

AFP contributed to this report.

Sam Barron

Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


Newsfront
President Donald Trump is throwing cold water on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's new 20-point peace plan ahead of their Sunday meeting at Mar-a-Lago. "He doesn't have anything until I approve it," Trump told Politico. "We'll see what he's got."
donald trump, volodymyr zelenskyy, ukraine, russia, peace deal
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2025-58-26
Friday, 26 December 2025 03:58 PM
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