“Progress achieved”: Zelenskyy says US has agreed to 15 year security guarantees for Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the U.S. has “confirmed strong security guarantees” for Ukraine as part of a 20-point peace plan, nearly four years after Russia‘s invasion.
Zelenskyy said the two-hour meeting with President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence was “great” and “substantive.” However, no deal could be reached on “permanent” protections for Ukraine, nor on the Russian-occupied territory of the Donbas region.
“We agreed with the president of the United States that we will have strong security guarantees from the United States,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on X. “In the documents, the guarantees are set for 15 years, with the possibility of extension.”
Trump celebrated the meeting, saying a peace deal with Ukraine “95% there,” including heaping praise on Russian President Vladimir Putin for allegedly wanting peace.
“Russia wants it ended,” Trump said of Putin’s intentions, following a two-hour phone call with him prior to Zelenskyy’s visit.
Trump: “Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed. It sounds a little strange but President Putin was very generous in his feeling toward Ukraine succeeding, including supplying energy, electricity and other things at very low prices.” pic.twitter.com/V0GkJnKICs
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 28, 2025
“Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed. It sounds a little strange,” Trump told reporters. “But President Putin was very generous in his feeling toward Ukraine succeeding, including supplying energy, electricity and other things at very low prices.”
The security guarantees were not without their critics. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said the conflict was “not our war,” contrasting it with Trump’s MAGA agenda.
Start your day with essential news from Salon.
Sign up for our free morning newsletter, Crash Course.
“Not sure how America First became promising to defend Ukraine for 15 years?” Paul wrote on X.
Trump’s previous attempts at peace have been fraught with disagreements or failed outright. Still, Zelenskyy praised the meeting for “the progress achieved” toward a peace deal, after a year of tense, disastrous meetings between him and Trump.
Read more
about Russia and Ukraine
