Monday’s wave of diplomatic negotiations resulted in the willingness of the United States to work on security guarantees for Ukraine and, according to Trump, as well as in the bilateral meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenský and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
European leaders emphasized that all negotiations must take place for a ceasefire and should begin with a bilateral dialogue between Ukraine and Russia. French President Emmanuel Macron described the US commitment to develop security guarantees for Ukraine as the most important outcome of the negotiations.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in an interview with CNN that any discussion of possible territorial exchanges can only take place in direct interviews between Ukraine and Russia.
Trump changed his mind
During Monday’s meeting with Zeleanský and European leaders at the White House, the US President excluded a ceasefire in the war between Russia and Ukraine, despite the fact that he warned Moscow of “very serious consequences” last week if Vladimir Putin did not accept the fighting.
Trump agreed to temporary ceasefire until meeting Putin last week at Alaska. His sudden change in the opinion of the European leader surprised.
“Of course, we all want an immediate ceasefire while we are working on a lasting peace. Maybe something like that can happen. But this is not happening at the moment,” Trump said at Washington.
Trump repeated some Russian arguments on Monday. For example, he stated that the end of the war depends on both – Zelenský and Putin – and not only on Putin who attacked Ukraine. He also pointed out the need to discuss the exchange of territory with regard to the current front line.
Trump announced that he began organizing a personal meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents. According to Trump and European leaders, Putin agreed. Zelena welcomed this development and described it as a “big step forward” to achieve a peace agreement, emphasizing that he was ready for “any format” of interviews. At the same time, he stated that he did not want to place any conditions for the meeting. According to The Guardian, Moscow did not confirm the meeting, but the High representative of Trump’s administration said it could take place in Hungary.
European reactions bring skepticism: French President Emmanuel Macron expressed “serious doubts” about the true will of Vladimir Putin to discuss peace and the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz added that he was not sure if the Russian president would “courage to participate in such a summit”.
