Donald Trump announces negotiating team for talks with Russia
Photo: Donald Trump, President of the United States (Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump announced the creation of a US working group focused on a peaceful settlement in Ukraine. He said the group would engage with Russia and would include senior figures from US political leadership, according to a broadcast of the joint press conference by the leaders of Ukraine and the United States held after the talks.
"And that working group, by the way importantly will also then be working with Russia. Okay. Because to work with ourselves doesn't really solve much of a problem," Trump said this after announcing the creation of the US working group.
According to him, the group will include US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, the White House head’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, General John Cain, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, as well as several other officials.
The US president also noted that Ukraine could be represented in the group by "several gentlemen."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine’s side could include National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, Deputy Foreign Minister Serhii Kyslytsia, and Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov. He added that around six documents would be reviewed and that a decision could be reached in January.
Trump, for his part, said that overcoming the remaining disagreements in the peace process would likely take several weeks, adding that while some issues had remained unresolved for decades, the sides were now attempting to settle them within days.
Trump–Zelenskyy meeting on December 28
The Ukrainian and US leaders met on December 28 in Florida at the White House head’s residence, Mar-a-Lago. The talks focused on resolving outstanding differences in the peace plan.
Speaking about the initial outcomes, Trump pointed to the Donbas issue as one of the key unresolved matters, saying it had not yet been settled but that the sides had moved closer to a conclusion.
Zelenskyy also commented on the results of the meeting, saying that security guarantees had been agreed in full, while the peace plan overall was about 90% finalized.
