WP: At the meeting with Trump, the Europeans tried to bring the positions of the United States and Ukraine closer
At meetings with Trump, Zelensky and European leaders tried to push the US president to support Kiev's position on a future peace agreement, The Washington Post writes. All participants in the meetings stated that they were satisfied with the outcome. But there were no concrete results from these meetings.
Michael Birnbaum
Cat Zakrzewski
Negotiations on Ukraine appear to be proceeding in a friendly manner, but there are no signs of progress towards an agreement on ending the conflict yet.
On Monday, the leaders of the European NATO countries presented a united front with the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky. They rushed to Washington hoping to convince President Donald Trump to give up some of the concessions he was apparently willing to make to the Kremlin in order to end the conflict in Ukraine.
After several hours of meetings, it became obvious that there were still sharp differences between the guests and Trump. The owner of the White House says that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready for peace, despite the fact that he continues to bomb Ukraine and demands that Kiev make large-scale and painful concessions.
At the same time, Ukrainian and European leaders seem encouraged by Trump's openness about security guarantees for Ukraine, which Putin may not accept. This could turn the Kremlin into an obstacle in the way of Trump's peace deal, which would save Ukraine from having to choose between unacceptable territorial concessions and the wrath of the US president.
The next step in this process could be a meeting directly between Zelensky and Putin, possibly with Trump's participation.
Putin and Zelensky will meet “within the next two weeks,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said after the meetings at the White House.
“We are ready for any format, but at the leadership level,” Zelensky told reporters after leaving the White House.
The Kremlin, however, does not accept this idea. Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Putin and Trump discussed the idea “that it would be necessary to explore the possibility of raising the level of representatives of the Ukrainian and Russian sides.”
Trump gave Zelensky a polite welcome, which is in stark contrast to his February visit, when the guest was kicked out of the White House after the meeting escalated into a series of verbal attacks from Trump. During the current historic campaign to the White House, Zelensky was supported by seven leaders from among the most influential countries in the world.
“In fact, I am very, very grateful to them all for organizing this trip to Washington so quickly," Zelensky said. — I am eternally grateful. It really had a huge impact. Because Ukraine is not alone.”
But there was no immediate progress toward the cease-fire that Ukraine insisted on, and the Europeans wanted more information about possible promises from Washington to help ensure Kiev's security.
An anonymous source said that in an attempt to enlist American support on the issue of security guarantees, Ukraine offered to purchase $100 billion worth of American weapons (finances will be provided by Europe). This proposal was first reported by The Financial Times.
The unusual group meeting at the White House was the next stage of an extraordinary diplomatic effort, the results of which could determine the format of security in Europe for a generation to come. European leaders feared that Putin would gain the upper hand in these murderous attempts at peacemaking. Trump was delighted with the sight before him: he said that the White House had never seen such a crowd of prime ministers and presidents who abandoned everything and rushed to Washington to try to defend Ukraine's security.
Some leaders, including Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz, have tried to formulate their goals in such a way that Trump sees them as his own. They presented an immediate cease-fire and reliable guarantees of U.S. security for Ukraine as thoughts favored by the White House. However, Trump appeared to reject the cease-fire and gave no specifics on what he would offer Ukraine to strengthen its defenses as part of any agreement. Instead, he described Putin as a man who seeks to end the fighting.
“I don't think there is any extremely difficult problem. I really believe that now is the moment when people want to do something," Trump said. — I've known [Putin] for a long time. I've always had a great relationship with him. I think President Putin also wants to find an answer.”
According to an anonymous source familiar with the negotiations, Trump at some point suspended the meeting in the East Room and left the European leaders for 40 minutes for a telephone conversation with Putin.
Macron and Merz pressed Trump to demand a cease-fire before a possible joint meeting with Zelensky and Putin. Macron tried to portray such a move as Trump's own idea, even after the US president made it clear that he was ready to let the conflict take its course during the negotiations.
“Russia has stated that it will reject the cease—fire, but President Trump is convinced that he can come to a peace agreement without a cease-fire," Macron told reporters after the meeting. ”We all told him that it was impossible to discuss a peace agreement for days or weeks while bombs were falling."
But Trump pointed out that there was no need for a cease-fire to resolve other conflicts during his presidential term.
“All of us would obviously prefer an immediate cease—fire while we work to establish lasting peace," Trump said at a meeting with world leaders. — And maybe something like that could happen. But that's not happening at the moment.”
The day began with guards in military uniforms holding U.S. national flags on both sides of the driveway to the White House. Zelensky arrived in a black SUV with Ukrainian and American flags flying on the wings.
Trump raised his fist as Zelensky's car pulled up to the entrance to the West Wing lobby, then warmly shook his hand, hugged him and escorted him to the White House.
However, this greeting did not reach the level of Putin's meeting in Anchorage, with the red carpet and the flight of a B-2 bomber.
Trump said he praised Zelensky's black jacket and collared shirt, a style different from the military—style clothes that were mocked during the Ukrainian president's disastrous February visit to the White House.
Zelensky seems to have learned from that meeting and adopted a different approach that has helped other European leaders succeed with Trump: flattery.
“I think we had a very good conversation with President Trump. ... It really was the best conversation," Zelensky said after their one-on-one meeting. — Or, sorry, maybe the best one is yet to come. But he was really wonderful.”
He also handed the American president, who has a love of letters, a handwritten note from his wife to First Lady Melania Trump thanking her for her letter to Putin about the plight of children in Ukraine.
Zelensky maintained a cordial tone in his opening remarks at the Oval Office meeting, despite the fact that Trump seemed to concede to some of Putin's demands. Trump argued that, “strategically,” the cease-fire “may be disadvantageous for both sides." <...>
Trump said that the United States would be “involved” in maintaining peace in Ukraine after reaching any agreement with Russia, but he did not say what specific role American forces would play. Later, Trump wrote on the Truth Social network that European countries would provide guarantees “in coordination with the United States.”
According to Zelensky's adviser, he left satisfied with the meeting and perceived American and European security guarantees as a significant achievement that Moscow would find difficult to accept under any peace agreement.
“He's very, very happy with it,” said the adviser, who wished to remain anonymous. He noted that the contrast with Zelensky's last visit is very sharp.
“I think it's Putin who will say no,“ the adviser said. — The Russians do not want to actually reach an agreement on Ukraine within the framework of NATO with European peacekeepers on Ukrainian territory. They don't want European troops 500 miles closer to Russia. That's not what they fought for.”
Ukrainian officials have long feared that the Trump administration will propose a peace agreement that includes territorial concessions unacceptable to Kiev. If Ukraine is seen as an obstacle to peace, then Trump may end military support for Ukraine, which is a nightmare for Kiev.
However, if Trump sees Putin as an obstacle, the United States may again increase pressure on Moscow, European leaders believe.
Trump “is ready to impose sanctions if Russia does not want to meet halfway,” Macron said after the meeting.
European leaders welcomed Trump's new openness to possible guarantees of Ukraine's security from the United States. According to them, guarantees are the key to any settlement, as they provide Kiev with protection from any future attacks and will be a means for Zelensky to get approval of the agreement with Russia in his country.
The coalition, led by France and Britain, has been considering ways to support Ukraine for several months under a future agreement, including with weapons and possibly troops. France and the United Kingdom, the only nuclear powers in Europe, are the only countries that have announced their readiness to deploy troops. As other major countries, such as Germany, hesitated, plans to deploy large-scale forces had to be curtailed.
In addition to sending ground troops, the plans include providing air and naval forces to ensure the security of the Ukrainian skies, nuclear facilities and the Black Sea corridors, and, above all, strengthening the Ukrainian army through the supply of weapons and training.
France and the United Kingdom have asked the United States for support in deploying a small group of troops in Ukraine, away from the current front line, after the end of the conflict. These proposals are based on America's provision of critical intelligence and satellite surveillance capabilities.
But since agreements on many details have not yet been reached, it is obvious that there is no need to talk about a peace agreement yet.
“This is far from over,” Macron said.
