U.S. President Donald Trump, who has changed his stance on a ceasefire to a comprehensive peace deal, will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington on Monday. The war has been going on for three and a half years.
In a social media message on Saturday, hours after they wrapped off a summit in Alaska that failed to generate an agreement to stop the war, Trump abruptly reversed course and aligned himself with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin has always stated that Moscow wants a long-term solution that considers the interests of the Kremlin and is not interested in a short-term truce.
Trump said on social media following conversations with Zelenskyy and European officials that “it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.”
RELATED STORY|No deal: Trump describes his conversation with Putin as fruitful but provides little details
The European leaders said they “welcomed President Trump’s efforts to stop the killing in Ukraine, end Russia’s war of aggression, and achieve just and lasting peace” in a statement following the Trump call, but they did not address whether a peace agreement was better than a ceasefire.
Prior to any talks, Trump and Ukraine’s European allies had been demanding a ceasefire.
According to Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London, Trump’s assertion that a ceasefire should be reached before a peace deal appears to show that his thinking is “shifting towards Putin,” which would permit Moscow to continue fighting while negotiating.
Zelenskyy claimed to have had a “long and substantive” talk with Trump early on Saturday, despite not being invited to Alaska for the summit. They would “discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war” on Monday, he said.
Since Trump publicly criticized Zelenskyy for being “disrespectful” at an unprecedented Oval Office meeting on February 28, this will be his first trip to the United States.
Trump confirmed the White House meeting and stated that “if all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin.” Trump also made calls to European leaders on Saturday.
Putin, who was in the United States for the first time in ten years and since the beginning of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, was given the red carpet by Trump on Friday. However, he did not provide much specific information on the topics that were discussed. He wrote on social media on Saturday that it “went very well.”
Trump had threatened “very severe consequences” for Russia if Putin did not agree to cease the war prior to the summit.
Zelenskyy wants Europe to get involved.
Zelenskyy, who was also absent from the summit, emphasized the significance of including European leaders.
“It is important that Europeans are involved at every stage to ensure reliable security guarantees together with America,” he stated. “We also discussed positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine’s security.”
Zelenskyy did not provide further details, but he has previously stated that the lack of an American backstop caused European partners to halt a plan to deploy foreign troops in Ukraine to thwart Russian aggression.
Zelenskyy claimed to have had one-on-one conversations with Trump and then called other European leaders. The talks lasted more than ninety minutes in total.
Trump blames Europe and Zelenskyy.
In Alaska, Trump declared that “there’s no deal until there’s a deal,” following Putin’s assertion that the two leaders had reached a “understanding” over Ukraine and his warning to Europe not to “torpedo the nascent progress.”
In an interview with Fox News Channel prior to his departure to Washington, Trump stated that while Zelenskyy may have the responsibility going forward “to get it done,” European countries will also play a role.
Following their meeting with Trump, prominent European leaders issued a statement expressing their willingness to collaborate with Zelenskyy and Trump on “a trilateral summit with European support.”
The French, German, Italian, British, Finnish, Polish, and European Union all issued statements stating that “Ukraine must have ironclad security guarantees” and applauding the United States’ willingness to supply them.
“It will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory,” they stated. “International borders must not be changed by force.”
Kaja Kallas, the head of EU foreign policy, stated that “the harsh reality is that Russia has no intention of ending this war anytime soon,” pointing out that Moscow continued to assault Ukraine while the delegations were meeting.
“Putin keeps dragging out talks in the hopes of getting away with it. She claimed that he left Anchorage without promising to put an end to the murder.
Russian and Ukrainian soldiers are engaged in combat along a front line that is 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) long. Russian forces have increased their gains since the spring and now hold the greatest territory since the war’s beginning.
Neil Melvin, director of international security at the Royal United Services Institute in London, stated that Vladimir Putin’s main objective in attending the Alaska conference was to delay any pressure on Russia to cease the conflict. “He will consider the summit outcome as mission accomplished.”
Trilateral meeting questions
Zelenskyy expressed support for Trump’s suggestion that the United States and Russia hold a trilateral summit. He stated that “key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this.”
A potential three-way meeting “has not been touched upon yet” in U.S.-Russia talks, however, according to Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, who spoke on Russian state television on Saturday.
According to Zelenskyy’s post on X, he advised Trump that “sanctions should be strengthened if there is no trilateral meeting or if Russia tries to evade an honest end to the war.”
A generally optimistic tone was set by Russian officials and media, with some seeing Friday’s meeting as a symbolic end to Putin’s isolation in the West.
The deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, former President Dmitry Medvedev, hailed the summit as a significant step toward reestablishing high-level communication between Moscow and Washington, calling the discussions “calm, without ultimatums and threats.”
Laurie Bristow, the former British ambassador to Russia from 2016 to 2020, said that Trump “wasn’t in the least challenged” by Putin, who has “broken out of international isolation” and returned to the world stage as one of two world leaders. Trump also disregarded an arrest warrant issued for Putin by the International Criminal Court.
Bristow told The Associated Press, “The fighting is not going to stop unless Mr. Putin is absolutely convinced that he cannot win militarily.” “That’s the big takeaway from the Anchorage summit.”
Using one ballistic missile and 85 Shahed drones, 61 of which were shot down, Russian strikes on Ukraine persisted overnight, according to Ukraine’s air force. Attacks were made on the front lines of Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Sumy.
According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, 29 Ukrainian drones were shot down by Russian air defenses over Russia and the Sea of Azov during the course of the night.
