There were no fireworks at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday when President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky held their meeting regarding Ukraine’s 20 point peace proposal.

Now, President Trump had been fairly optimistic about what he could get accomplished during this meeting when he was speaking to the press earlier in the weekend. Trump projected that same optimism when he announced that he had held a phone call with Vladimir Putin before the Zelensky meeting.

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And that same sense of optimism seemed present during the press conference that Trump and Zelensky gave after the meeting on Sunday evening.

But what does any of it mean at this point? President Trump, with the call to Putin before the meeting, is apparently trying to get a sense of where both Russia and Ukraine are at, and the sticking point that everyone agrees is the problem, is land.

The main sticking points include the fate of the nuclear plant, and the questions of land concession.

Trump suggested it was better to make the land concessions now, before Russia invades further.

“Some of that land has been taken. Some of that land is maybe up for grabs, but it may be taken over the next period of a number of months,” he said. “And are you better off making a deal now?”

Heading into the meeting, Zelensky had demonstrated new flexibility, saying he’s willing to put any peace agreement up for a referendum (Ukraine’s constitution requires any changes to its national boundaries be put up for a vote). But he said a ceasefire would be necessary to hold it.

Russia, which launched a fresh barrage of missile and drone attacks on Ukraine ahead of Sunday’s talks, has refused any talk of ceasefire.

And during Trump’s call with Putin, the two leaders expressed that they “generally share similar views” that a temporary truce will only prolong the conflict in Ukraine, according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov.

He added that “given the situation on the front lines,” Ukraine should soon decide on what to do with the eastern Donbas region, the key territory sought by Putin.

Trump said after his meeting with Zelensky that “we’re getting closer to an agreement” on the region’s fate, which he called “one of the big issues.”

And here we hit the impasse again. Ukraine must hold some kind of vote of the people in order to approve a peace deal that involves conceding land to Russia, and they want a 60 day ceasefire to hold that vote. Russia just wants the land, and refuses to consider a ceasefire of any kind to allow a vote. Putin doesn’t believe in holding a vote of the people without having a guarantee of the results. If Ukraine refuses to approve a “land for peace” deal, then Zelensky has the legitimate and popular right to continue the war. Russia apparently believes that a temporary ceasefire would allow Ukraine to rally support to continue the war, especially if the Ukrainian people reject the deal.

The nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia is another contentious point, as Russia currently holds it and Ukraine wants it back.

Another sticking point revolves around a Russian-occupied nuclear power plant in the southern Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine. It is Europe’s largest such plant, with a generation capacity of six gigawatts, and Kyiv says it needs it for its postwar reconstruction.

Mr. Zelensky said the United States had proposed that Washington, Kyiv and Moscow share control and profits from the plant. But he said Kyiv could not agree to trade energy with Moscow. He suggested a compromise in which the plant would operate as a joint venture between Kyiv and Washington, with the United States allowed to share its profits however it pleased. That suggested that Washington could separately strike a deal with Moscow.

The question is, with all this supposed accord between Trump and Zelensky, what happens now? Zelensky said that “90 percent” of the 20 point plan was agreed on, and the security guarantees also look good to Ukraine and the United States, and that more talks will be happening.

Zelenskyy said teams are expected to meet again in the coming weeks to finalize remaining issues and that Trump has agreed to potentially host further talks in Washington with European leaders and a Ukrainian delegation.

Trump said polling shows strong public support for ending the war and reiterated his desire to bring the conflict to a close, citing the scale of casualties on both sides.

“We want to see it ended,” Trump said. “I want it ended because I don’t want to see so many people dying. We’re losing massive numbers of people – the biggest by far since World War II.”

President Trump even suggested that he would be willing to travel to Ukraine to push a vote.

Trump, asked by a reporter at a post-summit press conference about whether he would go to Ukraine to help end the war, replied, “I’d have no problem with doing it.

“I don’t anticipate it. I would like to get the deal done and not necessarily have to go,” he said.

But “I’ve offered to go and speak to their parliament,” Trump said, specifically referring to the potential need by Ukraine to concede some of the Donbas region to Russia.

However, there was one moment during the presser where Zelensky wasn’t buying what Trump was attempting to sell on the part of Russia.

Zelensky pointed to Ukraine obtaining security guarantees as the “key milestone” to achieving lasting peace.

“We discussed all the aspects of the peace framework, which includes the 20-point peace plan — 90% agreed, and U.S.-Ukraine security guarantees — 100% agreed. U.S.-Europe-Ukraine security guarantees — almost agreed. Military dimension — 100% agreed,” Zelensky said.

Trump said he believes Russia will play a role in rebuilding Ukraine after hostilities conclude and that the Kremlin “wants Ukraine to succeed.”

Zelensky looked visibly uncomfortable and seemingly bit his tongue when Trump made that remark.

The Kremlin wants Ukraine to “succeed” in the sense that they don’t want to take over a completely broken and dependent satellite state. Donald Trump will not be president after 2028. If this war drags on, or those security guarantees are not honored by a future president, then Ukraine will have traded land for peace in a completely useless gesture. Zelensky knows this, and he is trying to make sure that if this peace plan goes through, Ukraine will be able to survive as an independent nation in the future.

So, it’s nice that Trump and Zelensky had this meeting, and yet again, find themselves agreeing on details. The monkey wrench is Russia. Trump has to stop coddling Putin, hoping that he wants peace just as much as Trump does. The carrot has not worked up to this point. It’s time for a stick, especially with Ukraine willing to make a deal. The president keeps saying that he wants the loss of life to end. The only way to make that happen now is to get Putin to the negotiating table – and the only way to do that is to make it too costly to not show up. Until then, these nice and agreeable press conferences will be nothing but diplomatic theater, and be absolutely meaningless in the long run.

Featured image: President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky on October 17, 2025, Official White House Photo by Juliana Luz, cropped, public domain