India, Dec. 29 -- US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war was getting "closer," but also described "one of two very thorny issues" that remain, as his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, hailed the talks.

Addressing a joint press conference with Zelensky after talks at his Florida club, Mar-a-Lago, Trump described the meeting as "terrific" and said that the agreement was "a lot closer".

"We had a terrific meeting. We discussed a lot of things. As you know, I had an excellent phone call with President Putin... and I do think we're getting a lot closer," Trump told reporters.

The Republican leader declined to put the agreed-upon terms for security guarantees in percentages but went on to ...