Trump Declares Zelensky Has Nothing To Announce on Russia ‘Until I Approve It’ Ahead of Weekend Meeting

President Volodymyr Zelensky meets US President Donald TRUMP in the White House on October 17, 2025. Working Visit of the President of Ukraine to the US Photo by: Presidential Office of Ukraine/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

President Donald Trump claimed Friday that he’ll be the one to give the final word on a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

In an exclusive interview with Politico, Trump said that, despite anything Zelensky proposes when they meet up at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday, the Ukrainian president “doesn’t have anything until I approve it,” Trump said. “So we’ll see what he’s got.”

Zelensky told reporters that his new 20-point plan for peace includes a proposed demilitarized zone with one key condition: “Russia would have to withdraw its forces from a corresponding stretch of land in Donetsk,” Politico reported. Ukrainian officials have described the plan as “an attempt to show flexibility without conceding territory,” the report said.

Trump seemed optimistic about the meeting with Zelensky, telling Politico, “I think it’s going to go good with him. I think it’s going to go good with [Vladimir] Putin,” Trump said, adding that he’ll speak with Russia’s leader “soon, as much as I want.”

Zelensky said he recently had a “good conversation” about the peace deal with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Sunday’s meeting is also expected to focus on security guarantees, management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, plus territorial control of Donbas, which Moscow has claimed.

“Russia has given no indication that it is willing to accept anything short of full control over the region, underscoring the gulf that remains between the two sides,” the report said. But Trump said the economic strain on Russia may be enough to move the needle.

“Their economy is in tough shape, very tough shape,” he said.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, leading to hundreds of thousands of soldier and civilian deaths on both sides. Trump campaigned on his ability to broker a deal and end the war, often referring to himself as “the peace president.”