Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky and seven European leaders sat down to discuss how Ukraine could be protected if a peace deal was reached with Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin
The meeting between the US, Ukraine and seven European leaders at the White House yesterday has been hailed as a key diplomatic step toward peace.
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky were joined by Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and five other European premiers for hastily prepared talks on paving a way to peace with the Kremlin.
Initially, Trump and Zelensky sat down for their own private discussions before key European leaders were invited as they demonstrated a united front with Zelensky. As well as Starmer and Macron, the leaders of Germany, Italy, Finland, the European Commission and NATO also attended.
On the table of discussion were security guarantees for Ukraine after the war and the prospect of territory exchange. The meeting had a far more cordial feel than the disastrous Oval Office meltdown earlier this year, with Zelensky putting on a serious charm offensive, thanking the president several times during his opening speech.
Putin to sit down with Zelensky in ‘two weeks’
In what’s being hailed as a key diplomatic breakthrough, Trump has paved the way for the first meeting between Zelensky and Vladimir Putin since the outbreak of the war in February 2022.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who was present at the White House talks, said the sit-down would take place in the next two weeks.
Trump took to Truth Social to announce the move, saying: “At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelensky.
“After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself.”
While the prospect of a meeting is being hailed as a success by many European allies, including Sir Keir Starmer, there’s been no confirmation from the Kremlin as to whether Putin will agree. Some leaders have warned that meeting or not, Kyiv and Washington should not trust anything Putin says.
Zelensky’s charm offensive
Zelensky’s last visit to the White House ended on less-than-ideal terms, with the Ukrainian president being effectively asked to leave amid heated words between himself, Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
But yesterday, the Ukrainian premier swapped his military fatigues – which earned him fierce criticism from Vance – for a suit. One body language expert told The Mirror it showed he wanted to “pull out all the stops” to make the talks a success.
A reporter told Zelensky yesterday: “You look fabulous in that suit.” He was then seen speaking with Trump in the Oval Office, who remarked he had also complimented Zelensky on his outfit.
During his opening remarks at the Oval Office, Zelensky said “thank you” eight times. Most of the thanks were heaped on Trump himself, but he also thanked Melania for sending a letter to Putin about the Ukrainian children who had been abducted and taken to Russia.
“Thank you so much, Mr President… thank you for your attention. Thank you very much for your efforts, personal efforts to stop killings and stop this war. Thank you,” Mr Zelenskyy said.
“Using this opportunity, my thanks to your wife,” he added. “And thanks to all our partners and that you supported this format. And after our meeting, we’re going to have leaders who are around us, the UK and France, Germany… all partners around Ukraine supporting us. Thanks [to] them. Thank you very much for your invitation.”
Security guarantees
One of the most important takeaways from the meeting was Trump’s promise of US involvement in a security guarantee for Ukraine if peace is reached.
Trump stopped short of saying the US would provide troops on the ground, like European leaders have pledged, but said there would be some form of guarantee.
Putin has reportedly “agreed” to security guarantees, Trump said, adding that “European nations are going to take a lot of the burden”, but “we’re going to help them, and we’re going to make it very secure”.
European leaders applauded Trump’s comments, with Commission president Ursula von der Leyen saying it was “good to hear”. She described it as “Article Five-like security guarantees”.
For those guarantees, tentative plans were drawn up for Ukraine to buy American weapons funded by its European allies and for the US to purchase Ukrainian-manufactured drones.
Peace deal without a ceasefire
Trump has been pushing both parties to agree to a ceasefire all year, but this has become a cause of contention between the two sides. While Ukraine and Europe want the usual ceasefire followed by a deal, Putin wants the ceasefire to come later.
While Trump had previously stressed the need for a ceasefire as soon as possible, his meeting with Putin in Alaska appears to have altered his course. He said there doesn’t need to be a ceasefire because the sides can work out a path to peace while bombs continue to fall.
“I don’t think you need a ceasefire. You know, if you look at the six deals that I settled this year, they were all at war, I didn’t do any ceasefires,” he said.
“I know that it might be good to have, but I can also understand, strategically, why one country or the other wouldn’t want it. You have a ceasefire and they rebuild and rebuild and rebuild and maybe they don’t want that.”
He admitted a ceasefire would be the ideal scenario because it would stop the bloodshed.
European leaders doubled down, with the German Chancellor saying “we would all like to see a ceasefire”, adding he couldn’t see the next meeting taking place without one. He suggested the leaders should put pressure on Russia to agree to their demand.
Territory exchange
In past statements, Zelensky has always ruled out sacrificing any Ukrainian territory for peace. At Trump’s meeting with Putin in Alaska last week, the Russian tyrant reportedly demanded the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which are already largely under his control, as a pre-requisite for ending the war.
Ahead of the multilateral talks, Trump said: “We also need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory.” Trump added: “That means the war zone, the war lines that are now, pretty obvious, very sad, actually, to look at them and negotiating positions.”
If Putin was given those areas, he agreed to giving up other Ukrainian territories currently under its control, a number of news reports have claimed.