Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Monday that he is willing to meet directly with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to end the war. This would be their first face-to-face meeting since Moscow’s full-scale invasion began over three years ago.
Speaking to reporters after a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump and several European leaders at the White House, Zelenskyy said, “I confirmed — and all European leaders supported me — that we are ready for a bilateral meeting with Putin.” The Ukrainian leader has been under increasing pressure to cede territory as Russian forces make steady advances.
Trump’s Stance and Security Guarantees
Prior to the White House meeting, Trump had urged Ukraine to give up Crimea and its aspirations to join NATO, which are both key demands from Putin. However, Zelenskyy stated that his one-on-one meeting with Trump was “the best of our meetings,” as he was able to provide a clearer picture of the battlefield situation to the American leader.
According to French President Emmanuel Macron, the summit focused on arranging security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of a peace deal, rather than on Ukrainian concessions. Trump affirmed that the United States would help guarantee Ukraine’s security, although the specific details of this assistance were not made clear.
“When it comes to security, there’s going to be a lot of help,” Trump told reporters, adding that European countries would be involved. Zelenskyy praised this as a “major step forward” and said the guarantees would be “formalised on paper within the next week to 10 days.” He also mentioned that Ukraine had offered to purchase about $90 billion worth of U.S. weapons.
While the tone of the meeting was much more positive compared to their difficult encounter in February, a peace deal still appears to be far from imminent.
