Speaking at a joint press conference at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort
there was a cautious optimism in the air between Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky
The U.S. president said they're getting a lot closer to an agreement, that it could be just weeks away
Ukraine's leader mirrored such sentiments. And even Moscow said negotiations are in the final phase
But in the 20-point plan that's been reworked from the original November 28.1
what are the remaining sticking points? Well, the main one is territorial
or the fate of land in eastern Donbass. In the original Moscow-led plan, Ukraine would have
withdrawn troops from areas that it still controls and has not lost to Russia. For Zelensky
ceding land that Russia has not captured is out of the question. For the Kremlin
Ukraine should accept or else face the risk of losing more territory
The flashpoint issue a compromise on this may be possible With a demilitarized zone of that area and others controlled by Russia Zelensky says he wants long guarantees on this buffer zone that would be controlled by international forces
He said he has asked Trump for a more than 15-year guarantee on this
which the U.S. president has yet to decide on. Another sticking point, the Zaporozhye nuclear
power plant. Now occupied by Russia, Kiev says it needs the energy for reconstruction
The initial proposal was for Ukraine and Russia to share, but trading energy with Russia is a red line for Ukraine
One possible compromise could be a joint U.S.-Ukraine venture, which would imply that Washington would then be the go-between for Moscow
or it would strike a separate deal where it would trade or transfer that energy to Russia
With many details now ironed out, it is the thorniest ones that still remain
To tackle them, Ukraine wants to host a meeting with American and European leaders in the coming days
Moscow says a call with Donald Trump is likely, even if one between Zelensky and Vladimir Putin is decidedly not on the table