President Trump is meeting today at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Finland and Italy, as well as NATO chief Mark Rutte and the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. This comes three days after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska but failed to secure a peace agreement. Ahead of the Alaska talks, Trump had vowed Russia would face “very severe consequences” if Putin did not agree to stop the war, but Trump then dropped his call for a ceasefire. Putin is insisting on Ukraine giving up the eastern Donbas region as a condition for ending the war. Putin spoke on Friday.
President Vladimir Putin: “But at the same time, we are convinced that for the Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and long-term, all the root causes of the crisis, which have been discussed repeatedly, must be eliminated. All of Russia’s legitimate concerns must be taken into account, and a fair balance in the security sphere in Europe and the world as a whole must be restored. I agree with President Trump — he spoke about this today — that, of course, Ukraine’s security must also be ensured.”
Putin and Trump did not take any questions after giving brief remarks. On Sunday night, Trump posted a message online saying, “Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight.” Trump said Zelensky must give up on joining NATO or reclaiming Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. Trump officials have floated the idea of the U.S. offering Ukraine some sort of security guarantee.
Meanwhile, Zelensky has accused Putin of trying to “humiliate diplomatic efforts” by launching attacks over the past day that killed at least 10 people, including three children, in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia.