Welcoming Zelesnkyy, Trump says Russia-Ukraine talks in 'final stages'

By Yasin Gungor

ISTANBUL (AA) - US President Donald Trump said on Sunday negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war are in their "final stages" as he welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

"I think we're in final stages of talking," Trump told reporters. "It'll either end or it's going to go on for a long time, and millions of additional people are going to be killed."

Trump said both the presidents want to make a deal and that he plans to call Russian President Vladimir Putin again after the Zelenskyy meeting to continue negotiations. Earlier Sunday, Trump said he held a "good and very productive" call with Putin ahead of the Zelenskyy meeting.

He said there will be a "strong" security agreement, with European nations playing a major role in protection arrangements.

"The European nations have been really great. They're very much in line with this meeting and getting a deal done," Trump said.

The leaders later held a closed-door lunch.

The US side included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, Jared Kushner, peace envoy Steve Witkoff and others. Ukrainian Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov was among those on the Ukrainian side.

Zelenskyy arrived in the US on Saturday following a visit to neighboring Canada to discuss the US plan to end the nearly four-year conflict.