The optimism with which the US president, Donald Trump, began the meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodimir Zelenski, has materialized at the end of Monday's day. “I think, if everything goes well today, we will have a trilateral,” said the Republican. At the end of the conversations with the Ukrainian and the European leaders, Trump has announced that he begins to prepare a meeting between Zelenski and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. The place and date are about to specify, as well as the official confirmation of the Kremlin.
“After that meeting takes place, we will celebrate a trilateral, which will consist of the two presidents, more myself. Once again, it was a very good first step for a war that already lasts almost four years,” said the Republican in Truth Social after being called with Putin. In another gesture of deference to the Russian, the president has had no problem in interrupting the conversations with the Europeans to pick up the phone and talk to him.
After his encounter with the American, Zelenski has assured that he waits for a meeting with Putin “without conditions” in the next two weeks. “It is possible that for this to be required of the United States pressure,” he added. Zelenski has been satisfied with Washington's support for security guarantees: “It is very important for the United States to give such a firm sign and be ready to secure them.”
Russian Foreign Minister Serguéi Lavrov told public television, in turn, that “any contact involving the heads of state must prepare thoroughly.”
For his part, Trump has said that it will be the Europeans who offer these guarantees and have positively valued the meetings with European leaders and NATO general secretary Mark Rutte. “During the meeting we talk about security guarantees for Ukraine, which would be provided by the different European countries, in coordination with the United States of America. All are very happy with the possibility of peace for Russia/Ukraine.” Trump has pledged to coordinate efforts to maintain the security of Ukrainians, although Europe will be the one that must carry the bulk of responsibility.
Last spring, both the United Kingdom and France were already willing to send peace troops to Ukraine for a stage after the end of the conflict.
This commitment to the security guarantee will result in the purchase of weapons from the US worth $ 90,000 million by kyiv with European financing, Zelenski himself reported.
Not to mention the military package during the conversations, Trump has linked security guarantees for Ukraine with territorial assignments. Something that Zelenski has been open, but with the condition that he is talk at the trilateral meeting that still has no date. The position of the Ukrainian aims to pass all the pressure to Moscow, since since the war began he has refused to sit at the same table as kyiv.
In front of European leaders, Zelenski has already referred to the private conversation with Trump about the territorial cast. “Thank you for the map,” said the Ukrainian, that at the exit of the meeting he explained that Trump would have shown him a map with the combat fronts and the areas that Ukraine should yield. Zelenski has affirmed that he does not agree at all with the resignations raised by Trump.
The Ukrainian president step on the White House on Monday to meet with the Republican with the shouts of the last time hanging on his head. Zelenski has seen how the American has spent in recent days of bringing positions with Europe and his country to adopting positions closer to the Kremlin; However, Trump has avoided the confrontation with his Ukrainian counterpart.
“We are going to get a lasting peace,” said US president. “I finished six wars and I thought this would be the easiest, but it is not. It is hard,” he added. In a change in prominent posture, Trump has said that there could be negotiations before a high fire, assuming one of Russia's positions. “In all the wars that I have finished I have not made any fire. I thought it would be good to have it, I like the concept, but we can work an agreement while fighting,” he explained.
On this occasion, the Ukrainian has left the military uniform at home and dressed a black jacket and shirt. A clothing that, as usual, Trump has commented before the press by receiving him at the entrance of the White House. Later, the journalist Glenn Brian (couple of Trumpist Marjorie Taylor Greene), made a sly comment about the clothing of the Ukrainian leader.
“I love your suit,” Brian shouted at him, who six months ago threw more firewood to the fire criticizing the Ukrainian clothing. Zelenski has responded with a wide laugh in an effort to win the president and his entire parish.
With another bitter lesson already learned, Zelenski has started his speech filling Trump from thanks after, during his first visit to the White House, vice president JD Vance reproached him not to have not enough the US help to Ukraine from the beginning of the conflict in 2022. On Monday, the Ukrainian president thanks up to eight times in the Oval Office Docile that last February, after months of blackmail by Washington, in which Trump has not trembled his pulse when cutting military and economic aid to kyiv.
The Ukrainian president has seemed to be open to some of Putin's demands. “It takes security, a high fire by land and air, so that people can vote democratically. During the war you cannot vote,” he said in response to a question by Glenn Brian, who was not innocent: to celebrate elections is another demand of the Russian president to which Trump has already given his backing.
Meeting with European leaders
The European delegation was made up of the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen; the French president, Emmanuel Macron; German Chancellor Friedrich Merz; the British prime minister, Keir Starmer; The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and the president of Finland, Alexander Stubb – who make up the so -called volunteer coalition. The NATO general secretary, Mark Rutte, was also present.
The German Foreign Minister Friedrich Merz, has contradicted Trump regarding the need for a high fire in Ukraine: “I would like to emphasize this aspect and strongly emphasize the need to see a stop the fire at the next meeting.”
Several have referred to the meeting that Trump has promised to be organizing with Putin, Zelenski and himself. Macron has pointed out that this trilateral meeting is “very important”, but has suggested that Europe should participate in a meeting after four bands, because “the security of the entire European continent is being discussed.”
The trip to Washington of the Europeans is another closure of symbolic rows with kyiv that hopes to reinforce the position of Zelenski. Or at least soften Trump's. For many of the leaders it is not the first time they step on the White House. In fact, both Macron and Starmer were already in the Oval Office in February with a mission similar to today, but with a desired result: they could not avoid the ambush for shouts of Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, against the Ukrainian. The result of the enclosure materialized, months later, with Ukraine giving the exploitation of its rare earth and natural resources to the United States.
In exchange for renouncing Crimea – territory occupied since 2014 – already entry to NATO, which Washington offers are security guarantees for kyiv. Something that Zelenski claims for a long time. Even so, the Ukrainian president recalled how right now 31 years ago that, in 1994, Ukraine was forced to deliver his atomic arsenal in exchange for security guarantees that never worked.
The special envoy of the White House, Steve Witkoff, which was present at the top of the 15th, explained to the CNN that on Friday Putin accepted that Washington and its European allies offered “robust guarantees” of security to Ukraine, similar to the NATO collective defense mandate, in exchange for a commitment to end the war. “We achieved the following concession: that the United States could offer a protection similar to that of article 5,” said Witkoff.
Zelenski described this proposal from the White House as a “historical decision”, but insisted that guarantees must be “practices” and serve to “protect by land, sea and air.” He also demanded a trilateral meeting with Trump and Putin to discuss the key issues of a possible agreement that the Ukrainian fears that they end up closing the leaders of the two great powers without taking into account Ukraine.
