'One or two thorny issues' remain after Ukraine peace deal talks, Trump says
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy say they have made "a lot of progress" towards finalising a peace agreement to end Russia's war in Ukraine - although "one or two very thorny issues" remain.
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy say they have made "a lot of progress" towards finalising a peace agreement to end Russia's war in Ukraine - although "one or two very thorny issues" remain.
At a news conference following around two hours of talks at Mr Trump's residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, the two leaders hailed an "excellent" meeting during which they discussed "all aspects" of a 20-point peace framework.
The US president said the outcome of the talks would be known in a few weeks, saying Ukraine is "a lot closer" to a deal and that the pair had "made a lot of progress on ending that war".

Image: Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump held a news conference following the peace deal talks in Florida. Pic: AP/ Alex Brandon
Russia "wants to see Ukraine succeed", he maintained at the news conference, during which he repeatedly praised the Ukrainian leader as "brave".
Mr Zelenskyy said the 20-point peace plan was "90% agreed", with US-Ukraine security guarantees 100% agreed - although Mr Trump put the security agreements at 95%.
"We agreed that security guarantees are a key milestone in achieving lasting peace and our teams will continue working on all aspects," Mr Zelenskyy said.
Opening the floor to questions from the media, which started with the issue of security, Mr Trump said: "I just think we're doing very well. We could be very close or one or two very thorny issues, very tough issues. But I think we're doing very well.
"We've made a lot of progress today, but really we've made it over the last month. This is not a one-day process deal. There's very complicated stuff."
Asked which thorny issues remain unsolved, Trump said the issue of some Ukrainian land.
The Donbas issue
Future of Donbas 'unresolved'
Russian leader Vladimir Putin wants to take control of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region as a condition for ending the war, despite not controlling the entire area. Ukraine has previously ruled out accepting this.
Speaking about the Donbas region, Mr Zelenskyy said he had to "respect our law and our people", as well as the territory controlled by Ukraine.


