Trump says he had 'very productive' phone call with Putin prior to meeting with Zelensky

Washington, Dec 29 US President Donald Trump said that he had a "very productive" telephone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin prior to a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in US Florida on Sunday over the latest draft of a peace plan aimed at ending the Ukraine crisis.

"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 Zelensky of Ukraine," said Trump on Truth Social.

"The meeting will take place in the main dining room of Mar-a-Lago. Press is invited," he added.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed the telephone conversation between Putin and Trump on Sunday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Trump and Zelensky were expected to talk about the framework of the 20-point peace plan, including a possible ceasefire timetable, a proposed demilitarized zone, the management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, territorial control of the Donbas region, and security guarantees following the end of the crisis.

Trump said that peace negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine were “very close” following what he described as a “terrific meeting” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

“We’ve done very well. We’ve had discussions on just about every subject,” Trump told reporters after the meeting, adding that the two sides had “made a lot of progress on ending that war.”

Trump said he and Zelensky had also spoken with several European leaders after their bilateral discussions, describing the outreach as appropriate given the stakes involved. He listed leaders from France, Finland, Poland, Norway, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Germany, as well as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“We thought it was appropriate to speak with them,” Trump said. “Our meeting was excellent.”

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