By Andrea Shalal and Max Hunder
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday that the United States would help guarantee Ukraine’s security in any deal to end Russia’s war there, though the extent of any promised assistance was not immediately clear.
Trump made the pledge during an extraordinary summit at the White House, where he hosted Zelenskiy and a group of European allies two days after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and months after a disastrous Oval office meeting where Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly criticized the Ukrainian leader.
A peace deal appears far from imminent, however. Both Trump and Zelenskiy said they hoped Monday’s gathering would eventually lead to trilateral talks with Putin.
The Kremlin has not yet publicly accepted such a meeting, and it remains to be seen whether Putin, whose forces have been slowly grinding forward in eastern Ukraine, is prepared to sit down with Zelenskiy or make meaningful concessions.
Meanwhile, European leaders – who rushed to Washington in support of Ukraine – urged Trump to insist that Putin agree to a ceasefire before any talks can advance. Trump had previously backed that proposal but reversed course after meeting with Putin on Friday, instead adopting Moscow’s position that any peace agreement be comprehensive.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he liked the concept of a ceasefire but that the two sides could work on a peace deal while the fighting continued.
“I wish they could stop, I’d like them to stop,” he said. “But strategically that could be a disadvantage for one side or the other.”
Later in the day, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron both voiced support for a ceasefire as a prerequisite to any direct talks with Russia.
“I can’t imagine that the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire,” said Merz, sitting at a table with Trump and other leaders. “So let’s work on that and let’s try to put pressure on Russia.”
Macron also said European leaders would need to be involved in subsequent meetings as well.
“When we speak about security guarantees, we speak about the whole security of the European continent,” he told Trump.
Trump, who said repeatedly that he believes Putin wants to end the war, said he had spoken to Putin on Monday and would call him after the talks as well.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Moscow does not consider the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine a viable solution to the conflict.
FRIENDLY TONE AFTER FEBRUARY DISASTER
Trump and Zelenskiy’s meeting was starkly different in tone from their previous Oval Office encounter in February, which ended when Trump and Vance publicly upbraided Zelenskiy as not being grateful enough.
This time, the meeting appeared far more convivial, despite the U.S. president’s movement toward Russia in recent days. Zelenskiy struck a deferential tone, giving thanks at least eight times during his opening remarks to the media.
Zelenskiy was also backed by the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, the European Union and NATO, who traveled to Washington to demonstrate solidarity with Ukraine and push for strong security guarantees for the country in any post-war settlement.
Trump greeted Zelenskiy warmly upon his arrival outside the White House, expressing admiration for Zelenskiy’s black suit, a departure from his typical military clothes.
When a reporter asked Trump what his message was to the people of Ukraine, he said, “We love them.” Zelenskiy thanked him, and Trump put his hand on Zelenskiy’s back in a show of affection before the two men went inside to the Oval Office.
Following their one-on-one discussion, Trump and Zelenskiy held broader talks with the European leaders.
Zelenskiy described the private talks with Trump as “very good” and said they had spoken about Ukraine’s need for U.S. security guarantees.
“This is very important, that the United States gives such a strong signal and is ready for security guarantees,” Zelenskiy said.
Trump said he and Zelenskiy had covered “a lot of territory” during their discussion.
“When it comes to security, there’s going to be a lot of help,” Trump said, adding that European countries would be involved. “They are a first line of defence because they’re there, but we’ll help them out.”
TRUMP UPS PRESSURE
Trump has pressed for a quick end to Europe’s deadliest war in 80 years, and Kyiv and its allies worry he could seek to force an agreement on Russia’s terms after the president on Friday rolled out the red carpet – literally – for Putin, who faces charges from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes.
Russian attacks overnight on Ukrainian cities killed at least 10 people, in what Zelenskiy called a “cynical” effort to undermine talks.
Trump has rejected claims that the Alaska summit had been a win for Putin, who has faced diplomatic isolation since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“I know exactly what I’m doing, and I don’t need the advice of people who have been working on all of these conflicts for years, and were never able to do a thing to stop them,” Trump wrote on social media.
Trump’s team has said there will have to be compromises on both sides to end the conflict. But the president himself has put the burden on Zelenskiy, saying Ukraine should give up hopes of getting back Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, or of joining the NATO military alliance.
Zelenskiy has already all but rejected the outline of Putin’s proposals from the Alaska meeting. Those include handing over the remaining quarter of its eastern Donetsk region, which is largely controlled by Russia.
Any concession of Ukrainian territory would have to be approved by a referendum.
The war has killed or wounded more than a million people from both sides, including thousands of mostly Ukrainian civilians, according to analysts, and destroyed wide swaths of the country.
Officials in Ukraine said a drone attack on a residential complex in the northern city of Kharkiv killed at least seven people, including a toddler and her 16-year-old brother. Strikes in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia killed three people, they said.
Ukraine’s military said on Monday that its drones had struck an oil pumping station in Russia’s Tambov region, leading to the suspension of supplies via the Druzhba pipeline.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Max Hunder, Tom Balmforth, Trevor Hunnicutt, Sabine Wollrab, Vitalii Hnidyi, Tim Kelly, Fabian Hamacher, Ludwig Burger and Anita KomuvesAdditional reporting by Ryan P. Jones, Maiya Keidan, Katharine Jackson, Jarrett Renshaw, Steve Holland and Zoe Law; Writing by Joseph Ax, Andy Sullivan and Matthias Williams; Editing by Frances Kerry, Sharon Singleton, Don Durfee, Alistair Bell and Cynthia Osterman)
