While Donald Trump said they “made a lot of progress” and Volodymyr Zelensky called it a “great meeting,” there was no decisive breakthrough. On Sunday, December 28, the American and Ukrainian presidents praised the results of their working lunch in Palm Beach, Florida, though the path to signing a peace plan between Ukraine and Russia, nearly four years since the start of the war, still seemed as uncertain as ever. “We’re getting a lot closer, maybe very close” to a deal, Trump said, before acknowledging that “this is not a one-day process deal, this [is] very complicated stuff.” The president of the United States made no secret of his ambition to reach an agreement before the end of the year.

Events have accelerated in recent weeks. In mid-November, the US presented a 28-point peace plan, which had been prepared by Trump’s two negotiators, his envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, in coordination with Moscow. The document largely backed Russia’s demands, much to the dismay of Kyiv and European leaders. On Christmas Eve, Ukraine responded with a more concise 20-point counter-proposal.

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