Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is set to hold talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday as negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine intensify, with territorial issues emerging as the main obstacle to a potential peace deal.

Announcing the meeting on Friday, Zelenskiy said the discussions could prove decisive, adding that “a lot can be decided before the New Year,” as Washington steps up efforts to broker an end to Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two.

According to Zelenskiy, the talks will focus on sensitive territorial questions, including Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, which is currently controlled by Russian forces and located near the front line.

Territorial concessions remain the biggest hurdle in negotiations. Zelenskiy said he would try to dissuade Trump from backing a U.S. proposal that would require Ukrainian forces to withdraw entirely from Donbas. Kyiv wants fighting frozen along current battle lines, while Moscow is seeking full control of the Donbas, which includes the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The U.S. has floated a compromise proposal involving a free economic zone should Ukraine leave the area, though no details have been provided on how such a zone would operate. Zelenskiy reiterated that any decision involving territorial compromise should be made by the Ukrainian people, potentially through a referendum.

He said that if he fails to secure a “strong” U.S. stance on territorial issues, he would be open to putting a Washington-led 20-point peace plan to a national vote, provided Russia agrees to a 60-day ceasefire to allow preparations for the referendum.

Zelenskiy also said his meeting with Trump aims to refine near-final drafts of both the peace framework and a separate security guarantee agreement between Ukraine and the United States. He described the security deal as “almost ready” and said the broader 20-point peace plan was about 90% complete.

Ukraine has repeatedly stressed the need for robust, legally binding security guarantees, citing past failures by allies to prevent Russian aggression. Zelenskiy said Kyiv was open to signing agreements during his visit, though he cautioned that no decision had yet been made.

The White House did not immediately comment on Zelenskiy’s remarks. Trump has previously indicated he would meet Zelenskiy if he believed a significant diplomatic advance was possible, while also expressing frustration over the slow pace of negotiations.

European leaders may join the talks remotely, Zelenskiy said, noting that he had already discussed “significant progress” in peace efforts with Finnish President Alexander Stubb earlier in the week.

Russia has so far declined to publicly signal which proposals it might accept. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow did not want to comment on the U.S. documents, arguing that public statements could undermine negotiations. President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, has held talks with members of the Trump administration, the Kremlin confirmed.

Russian media reported that Putin may be open to exchanging some territory held by Russian forces elsewhere in Ukraine, but only in return for full control of the Donbas.

Despite the diplomatic push, fighting has continued. Russia has intensified attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and stepped up strikes on the southern Odesa region. On Friday, a Russian attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv killed two people.

Swapping Territory

Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated that Moscow could be open to swapping some territory it controls in Ukraine as part of a broader peace deal, while insisting on full control of the Donbas region, according to Russia’s Kommersant newspaper.

The report said Putin shared details of his position during a late-night Kremlin meeting on December 24 with some of Russia’s top business leaders. Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior Kremlin correspondent for Kommersant, wrote that the president reiterated Russia’s core demand for Donbas while leaving the door open to limited territorial concessions elsewhere.

“Donbas is ours,” Kommersant quoted Putin as saying, adding that while Moscow wants the entire region, a “partial exchange of territories from the Russian side is not ruled out” outside Donbas.

The Donbas, made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, has been a central point of contention in efforts to end the war. Russia currently controls most, but not all, of the area. According to Russian estimates cited in the report, Moscow controls all of Crimea, around 90% of Donbas, roughly 75% of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and smaller parts of several other Ukrainian regions.

Russian officials have previously referred to unspecified “understandings” reached between Putin and Trump at a summit in Anchorage, Alaska, in August. Putin has said any peace deal should be based on conditions he outlined in 2024, including Ukraine’s withdrawal from Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and Kyiv abandoning its bid to join NATO.