Zelenskyy is meeting with Carney in Halifax ahead of the Ukrainian president’s talks with Trump in Florida

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Prime Minister Mark Carney in Halifax on Saturday during a stopover before heading to the US to meet with President Donald Trump for talks aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

“Under the leadership of President Zelenskyy, we have conditions, a chance for a just and lasting peace,” Carney told reporters before he and Zelenskyy left for their meeting.

The prime minister also announced another 2.5 billion in economic aid to Ukraine.

According to a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office, nearly $1.6 billion in newly announced aid comes in the form of loan guarantees from the World Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The remaining assistance includes financing that will allow the International Monetary Fund to lend more money to Ukraine, and Canada will participate in “an expanded and expanded debt service arrangement for Ukraine,” the PMO press release said.

Zelenskyy’s visit to Canada comes after he spoke with Carney by phone on Friday. The Prime Minister’s Office issued an advisory early Saturday confirming the meeting, which began at approximately 1 pm AT.

The wartime leader said in a statement that he updated the prime minister “on the status of our efforts to communicate with the United States” to end the war in Ukraine after the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.

Zelenskyy will discuss a 20-point peace plan with Trump, likely at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on Sunday.

“In the coming days, much can be accomplished both between Ukraine and the United States, as well as our Coalition of willing partners,” Zelenskyy said, referring to the 35-nation group of countries friendly to Ukraine that includes Canada.

“It is important that we jointly and constructively strengthen Ukraine’s ability to protect life, strengthen our positions and improve the effectiveness of negotiations. Right now it is Russia that is dragging its feet and trying to waste time.”

According to a readout of the phone call from the PMO, Carney praised Zelenskyy “for his continued efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace for the Ukrainian people, and for the courage of the Ukrainian people as they face another winter of Russian aggression.”

“The prime minister confirmed Canada’s commitment to Ukraine in all these negotiations and emphasized the need to maintain pressure on Russia to negotiate,” the PMO said in a statement on Friday.

Security guarantees on the agenda with Trump

Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv that he and Trump would discuss Ukraine’s security guarantees during Sunday’s talks.

The “economic agreement” will be renegotiated, Zelenskyy said, adding that he could not confirm “that something will be finalized in the end.”

The Ukrainian side will also raise “local issues,” he said.

Moscow has insisted that Ukraine withdraw the territory it still holds in the Donbas – a conclusion that Ukraine has rejected. Russia holds most of Luhansk and about 70 percent of Donetsk – the two areas that make up Donbas.

Earlier this week, Zelenskyy said he would like to withdraw troops from an industrial area in eastern Ukraine as part of a plan to end the war, but only if Russia also withdraws and the area becomes a no-go zone monitored by international forces.

Zelenskyy said on Friday that a potential US-Ukraine deal is “90 percent ready,” acknowledging that territorial questions have been a major sticking point in the peace talks.

“Our goal is to make everything reach 100%,” he said. “That’s not easy.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that the Kremlin has been in contact with US representatives since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently met with US delegations in Florida.

“It was agreed to continue the discussion,” said Peskov.