Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky finds himself in a precarious position as he meets with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House. He can either agree to cede a large chunk of territory to Russia or balk at those terms and be considered an obstruction to any plan to end the war, raising Trump’s ire. Zelensky arrived at the White House shortly after 1 p.m. and his meeting will be followed by Trump’s unprecedented meeting with seven top European leaders.
On Sunday, Trump signaled his expectations for negotiations with Zelensky, putting the onus of peace on the Ukrainian leader.
“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump declared on his Truth Social platform. “Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!”
Today’s meetings follow the highly anticipated one Trump held with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Alaska, where Putin was given the red carpet treatment and an enthusiastic greeting. Though Trump said he wouldn’t “be happy” if no ceasefire agreement was reached during that visit, such an arrangement did not come to pass. Trump then shifted gears, seeking a comprehensive peace deal ahead of any ceasefire, a plan favorable to Putin and one Zelensky and NATO leaders have rejected.
After Putin’s trip to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, details of the Russian leader’s demands emerged. They included Ukraine giving up all of the Donbas, including territory Russia has yet to capture. In return, Russia has pledged to freeze the frontlines in the southern regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson where they are. In addition, Trump “told European leaders that he was open to offering U.S. security guarantees to Ukraine, according to several European officials, a significant shift in his stance toward America’s role in any end to the war,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who took part in Friday’s meeting with Putin, said “details of security guarantees for Ukraine, the question of territories and the issue of rebuilding the country still need to be discussed and ‘require some more specificity,’” according to CBS News.
Meanwhile, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff told CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday that Putin agreed to allow the U.S. and Europe to offer “game-changing” security guarantees. They include a possible arrangement in which the allies provide “Article 5-like protection” to Ukraine, a reference to the NATO charter that says an attack on one member nation is considered an attack against all.
“Putin has been vehemently opposed to Ukraine joining NATO, but a similar security guarantee outside the framework of the alliance might reassure Kyiv that Russia would be deterred from attacking in the future,” Witkoff said.
Ukraine, still suffering from Russia’s 2014 takeover of Crimea, and more recently, parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east, has rejected the idea of giving up the Donbas and remains wary of any so-called security guarantees. The concern in Kyiv is that, just as it had more than a decade ago, Russia could use these territories to launch further attacks. Ukraine has created a defensive infrastructure in Donetsk that has caused Russia to expend tremendous amounts of personnel and equipment for relatively small advances. The most recent example of that is Ukraine’s claimed halting of a Russian push east of the village of Dobropilla.
“We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably,” Zelensky said Sunday after arriving in Washington. “And peace must be lasting. Not like it was years ago, when Ukraine was forced to give up Crimea and part of our East—part of Donbas—and Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack. Or when Ukraine was given so-called ‘security guarantees’ in 1994, but they didn’t work.”
Zelensky was referring to the Budapest Memorandum that guaranteed Ukraine’s security in return for handing over nuclear weapons following the fall of the Soviet Union.
“Of course, Crimea should not have been given up then, just as Ukrainians did not give up Kyiv, Odesa, or Kharkiv after 2022,” Zelensky continued. “Ukrainians are fighting for their land, for their independence. Now, our soldiers have successes in the Donetsk and Sumy regions. I am confident that we will defend Ukraine, effectively guarantee security, and that our people will always be grateful to President Trump, everyone in America, and every partner and ally for their support and invaluable assistance. Russia must end this war, which it itself started.”
Following his meeting with Zelensky today, Trump is scheduled for a multilateral one with several top European leaders. The list includes European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
The European leaders are expected to “reaffirm their support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and argue against a land swap plan that rewards Russian aggression,” according to The Guardian. “They will also seek further clarity on what security guarantees the US is willing to offer in the event of a settlement.”
The European leaders moved to join the talks in the wake of February’s disastrous White House meeting that saw Trump berate Zelensky.
Meanwhile, as the diplomacy unfolds in D.C., Russia launched attacks on Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy and Odesa, killing at least 10 and wounding dozens of others, Zelensky stated on X.
In the Zaporizhia region, a captured U.S.-made M113 armored personnel carrier (APC) was seen heading toward Ukrainian positions sporting both Russian and American flags, a seeming nod to the Alaska meeting that Russian media saw as a win for Putin.
On the battlefield, Russia continues to attack across the 600-mile front lines, albeit with heavy losses, according to the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
“Every kilometer of our land is given to the enemy with crazy losses,” Oleksandr Syrskyi told the RBC news outlet in a story that was published today. “But the occupation army does not take into account these losses in order to fulfill the tasks set by Putin, turning entire settlements of Ukraine into ruins and hiding its soldiers under these ruins.”
The situation on the front “is really difficult now,” he added. “It is characterized by the continuation of Russia’s strategic offensive operation. Now the enemy is regrouping and concentrating on two main directions. This is the Pokrovsk direction, which remains decisive for the Russians. And now the enemy is transferring its units from the Sumy to the Zaporizhia direction.”
Even as the peace talks are underway, the Russians are planning “to launch active offensive actions,” Syrskyi posited.
Last week, it was Putin’s turn to offer his view of how this war should end. Today, Zelensky and the Europeans will have their say.
Though unlikely to result in any major breakthrough, we should get a better sense of whether progress is possible or if the war will drag on into a fifth year.
Update: 2:26 PM Eastern –
Today’s public portion of the meeting between Zelensky and Trump in the Oval Office was far more cordial than the last one. The two leaders addressed reporters before a private meeting and ahead of a larger multilateral one with seven European leaders.
“I think progress is being made, very substantial progress in many ways,” Trump said. “We had a good meeting, as you know, just a short while ago with the President of Russia. And I think there’s a possibility that something could come out of it. And today’s meeting is very important. “
Zelensky thanked Trump for the invitation and his “personal efforts to stop killings and stop this war.”
Trump did not rule out U.S. troops taking part in any post-war peacekeeping efforts.
“We’ll let you know that maybe later today,” he said when asked if American boots would be on the ground. “We’re meeting with seven great leaders of great countries also, and we’ll be talking about that. They’ll all be involved. But there’ll be a lot of help when it comes to security. There’s going to be a lot of help. It’s going to be good. They are first line of defense, because they’re there, they’re Europe, but we’re going to help them out also. We’ll be involved.”
Zelensky was asked if he needed guarantees of American troops, intelligence or equipment to make a deal.
“It’s a lot about weapons and people and training missions and intelligence,” Zelensky answered. “And second, we will discuss with our partners. It depends on the big countries, on the United States, and a lot on our friends in NATO.”
After today’s meetings, Trump said he would call Putin and try to set up a trilateral meeting with him and Zelensky.
“I just spoke to President Putin indirectly, and we’re going to have a phone call right after these meetings today, and we may or may not have a trilat,” Trump stated. “If we don’t have a trilat, then the fighting continues, and if we do, we have a good chance. I think if we have a trilat, there’s a good chance of maybe ending it.”
Update 3 PM Eastern –
Trump and Zelensky posed with the European leaders before their private meeting. They took no questions.
Update: 4:32 PM Eastern –
Before adjourning to a private meeting, Trump, Zelensky and the European leaders provided remarks to the media. Zelensky and the European leaders each praised the U.S. president for his efforts to bring about an end to the conflict.
Trump on Putin agreeing to security guarantees: “The Alaska summit reinforced my belief that while difficult peace is within reach, and I believe that in a very significant step, President Putin agreed that Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine, and this is one of the key points that we need to consider, and we’re going to be considering that at the table also, like, who will do what?”
More from Trump on security guarantees: “I think that the European nations are going to take a lot of the burden. We’re going to help them, and we’re going to make it very secure.”
Trump on land swapping as part of any deal: “We also need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory, taking into consideration the current line of contact. That means the war zone, the war lines that are pretty obvious, very sad actually, to look at them…”.
Trump on any decision on peace being ultimately up to Ukraine: “I have a feeling you and President Putin are going to work something out. Ultimately, this is a decision that can only be made by President Zelensky and by the people of Ukraine, working also together in agreement with President Putin. And I just think that very good things are going to come of it.”
Trump To Zelensky: “I’ll set up a meeting with President Putin, and if you’d like, I’ll go to that meeting. And not that I want to do that, but I will do that because we want to save a lot of people from dying. A lot of people are dying, and we got to save them, – 5,000, 6,000, 7,000 people, sometimes a week.”
Trump on confidence that a peace deal will be made: “The next step would be for a trilateral meeting, and that will be worked out. And I just look forward to working and having a great result. And we will come to a resolution today, I think, on almost everything, including probably the security.”
Zelensky on today’s meeting with Trump: “I think that we had a very good conversation with President Trump, very good. And it really was the best one, or, sorry, maybe the best one will be in the future. But it was really good, and we spoke about very sensitive points. The first one is security guarantees, and we are very happy with the president that all the leaders are here…security in Ukraine depends on the United States and on you and on those leaders who are with us in our hearts…We spoke about it, and we will speak more about security guarantees. This is very important that the United States gives such a strong signal and is ready for security guarantees. “
Zelensky also called for the return of children illegally deported to Russia, as well as all the prisoners.
Trump responded by saying he believed Putin would take some actions imminently. “I think you’ll see that President Putin really would like to do something else. I think when we set that up, when we do, I think it’s going to be when, not if. I think you’re going to see some really positive moves. I know there’s over 1,000 prisoners, and I know they’re going to release them. Maybe they’re going to release them very soon, like immediately, which I think is great, but we will. We’re going to set that up today, after this meeting.”
Rutte: “The fact that you have said I’m willing to participate in security guarantees is a big step, is really a breakthrough, and it makes all the difference.”
Merz called for a ceasefire before the next meeting: “To be honest, we all would like to see the ceasefire and the latest from the next meeting on. I can’t imagine that the next meeting [will take] place without a ceasefire, so let’s work on that, and let’s try to put pressure on Russia, because the credibility of these efforts.”
Macron asked that following any meeting among Trump, Zelensky and Putin be followed up by another one that includes the European nations, “because when we speak about security guarantees, we speak about the whole security of the European continent.”
Update: 8:10 PM Eastern –
The Russian Foreign Ministry rejected the notion of foreign troops on Ukrainian soil as part of any peace deal.
“We reaffirm our repeatedly stated position on our categorical rejection of any scenarios that provide for the appearance in Ukraine of a military contingent with the participation of NATO countries, which is fraught with an uncontrolled escalation of the conflict with unpredictable consequences,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said, according to the official Russian RIA Novosti media outlet.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com