Donald Trump holds ‘good, very productive' phone call with Vladimir Putin just before meeting with Zelensky

United States President Donald Trump said on Sunday, December 28, he had “a good and very productive” phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The “very productive” call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin comes just before the US President's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The meeting will be held in Florida to forge a plan to end the war in Ukraine.

Without revealing details on his phone call with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump said, “I just had a good and very productive telephone call with President Putin of Russia prior to my meeting, at 1:00 P.M. today, with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine.”

Trump and Zelensky have met at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Palm Beach. Zelenskyy, who arrived in Miami in the morning, said the two planned to discuss security and economic agreements in their early afternoon meeting.

He said he will raise “territorial issues” as Moscow and Kyiv remain fiercely at odds over the fate of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

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Sunday's meeting will be Trump's first in-person encounter with Zelensky since October, when the US president refused to grant his request for long-range Tomahawk missiles.

A few days before the Trump-Zelensky meeting in Florida, Kyiv and Washington came together to craft a 20-point plan – down from 28 points – to end the war.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky shared the details, but all eyes have lately been on Russian President Vladimir Putin to see if he agrees to the plan. The plan has been sent to Moscow for feedback.

The 20-point plan included Ukraine's sovereignty. “We state that Ukraine is a sovereign state, and all signatories to the agreement confirm this through their signatures,” Zelensky said.

The 20-point plan also constituted an unconditional non-aggression agreement between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine will receive strong security guarantees from the United States, NATO, and the European signatory states.

It mentioned that all sanctions against Russia will come into effect if Moscow invades Ukraine again after a deal between the two countries to end the war. It also states that the security guarantees would be rendered null and void if Ukraine were to provoke Russia. However, if Russia attacks Ukraine, the security guarantees will come into effect.

In the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, the current positions of troops at the time of this agreement are recognised as the line of contact.

(With agency inputs)