WASHINGTON – Ukrainian President Voldy Mirzelensky meets with President Donald Trump at the White House Monday afternoon just days after President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin left the Alaska Summit without a ceasefire contract.
Zelensky has traveled to Washington, DC, including President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission, NATO Secretary-General Mark Latte, British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer, German Prime Minister Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
He will come as Trump has stepped up his efforts in recent weeks to end the war in Ukraine, and he has stepped up more than three years of conflict claiming that if he had been in office it would not have happened.
After his meeting with Putin, Trump changed his objective to establish a full-scale “peace agreement” between Russia and Ukraine, destabilizing the ceasefire agreement. At the same time, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC News Sunday that the ceasefire will not be “off the table” and “meet the press,” but Russia has not agreed to stop the fight.
In his post to the truth on Social Social Sunday Night, Trump appeared to be responsible for ending the war with Zelensky, but emphasized that Ukraine must give up hope of participating in important demands from Crimea and Putin, which were annexed by Russia.
“Ukrainian President Zelensky can almost immediately end the war with Russia if he wishes.
A day ago, Trump showed in a Saturday post that if discussions with Zelensky were successful on Monday, he would encourage further discussion with Putin in the hopes of reaching a permanent end of the war.
The meeting gives leaders the opportunity to discuss future security assurances in Ukraine. Ukrainian envoy Steve Witkov came to light that it looked similar to Article 5 of NATO.
Ukraine wanted to use the meeting to negotiate a close-up of iron security guarantees, similar to Article 5, and convince Trump that a temporary ceasefire was necessary to launch actual peace negotiations, according to Ukrainian sources familiar with the goals. He said security assurance is a treaty-level obligation, as stated by sources requiring Senate approval.
The identified GOP lawmakers reflect the need for security assurance in the United States.
Similarly, European officials said the meeting was focused in part on clarifying what security assurances look like. Trump floated the land “swapping”, but officials said it was a belief that Ukraine would never give up everything in the eastern Donbas region, many of which dominate Russia. Europe said Europe would also want to take part in the final negotiations for the peace deal.
Zelenskyy said in an X post late Sunday that he had arrived in Washington. “We defend Ukraine, ensure security effectively and we are confident that our people will always be grateful to President Trump,” he said. He emphasized that “Russia must end this war, it has begun itself.”
The Ukrainian President’s visit is his first visit to the White House since the February meeting was left to a spectacular conflict between Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and Zelensky. The moment that unfolded live on television shocked Ukrainian allies, showing a sudden shift in the US longstanding support for allies caught up in a bloody war that began with Russian invasion.
Monday’s meeting comes after the White House welcomed Putin to Alaska. This is a controversial move that won further criticism when the US deployed a red carpet for Putin and took the controversial step of allowing Russian dictators to ride privately with Trump in their presidential cars.
The meeting, which excluded Zelenskyy, was ultimately concluded without a ceasefire contract. The leader left Alaska after holding a 12-minute press event where he did not ask questions or present deliverables.
Trump announced his meeting with Zelensky early on Saturday morning, adding a true society post that “If everything goes well, we’ll schedule a meeting with Putin.”
The future of the main points of attachment in debate to end the war – the lands of Russian-occupied Ukrainians and the status of security guarantees to prevent future Russian invasions remained vague over the weekend.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that “Ukraine security guarantees are needed,” and that the issue will be discussed “for the coming days.” Witkoff said on Sunday that security guarantees could be similar to NATO’s Article 5.
In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Witkoff said, “The United States may be able to provide Article 5 security assurances, not directly from the US and other European countries.”
The Ukrainian president celebrated what the US calls a “historic decision” to participate in security assurances, saying in a post on Sunday on X that “they are really very practical, they must provide protection on the land, in the air and in the sea and develop along with European participation.”
Zelensky will also get the opportunity during Monday’s meeting to address Trump’s comments on the future of Russian-occupied Ukrainian lands.
Before the Alaska Summit, Trump said the end of the war would include “territorial swapping.” Zelenskyy immediately shot down the prospects, saying, “The Ukrainians will not give land to the occupyers.”
Rubio said on NBC News on Sunday that he will “meet the media.” “No one is pushing Ukraine to give up on it,” he said. But later that morning, Trump said, “It appeared to undermine Rubio’s remarks when Ukraine reposted a true social user who must be willing to lose some territory to Russia.
Trump has quit meetings with Putin without announcing a ceasefire or a peace deal. The president told reporters on his way to Alaska that if the meeting did not lead to a ceasefire, “I don’t intend to be happy.” He also said that if Putin appears to be uninterested in peace, Russia will face “economically serious” consequences.
However, Rubio said in “Meeting the Media” on Sunday that he believed “new sanctions against Russia would force him to accept a ceasefire.”
Witkov defended the president after failing to secure a ceasefire, saying on Fox News Sunday that ceasefires often precede peace agreements, saying, “The president has always had many different victories at this meeting and has been talking about ceasefires until he realised we were talking about peace contracts.”
“The ultimate deal here is a peace agreement,” Witkov added.
Trump’s Friday meeting with Putin was in stark contrast to his February trip to the White House, where Trump and Vance publicly denounced Zelensky and claimed he wasn’t fully grateful for our support.
“You’re gambling with World War II. What you’re doing is very rude to this country, to this country. The meeting was eventually shortened.
Although not in the White House, the two leaders have met since. Trump and Zelensky met at the Vatican on the sidelines of the Pope’s funeral in April and met again personally at the NATO summit in June.
Trump previously misrepresented Zelensky as a “dictator” and falsely accused Ukraine of starting a war. The war began in February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.
