AMY GOODMAN: President Trump is meeting today at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of at least five European nations, including Britain and France and Finland and Italy and Germany. This comes three days after Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska failed to secure a peace agreement.

Ahead of the Alaska summit, Trump had vowed Russia would face “very severe consequences” if Putin did not agree to stop the war, but Trump then dropped his demand for a ceasefire. Putin is insisting on Ukraine giving up the eastern Donbas region as a condition for ending the war. Putin spoke alongside Trump on Friday.

PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: [translated] 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.

AMY GOODMAN: On Sunday night, Trump posted a message online, saying, quote, “Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” unquote. 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 continuing to attack Ukraine. Russian attacks have killed at least 10 people, including three children, over the past day in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia.

For more, we’re joined by Russia expert Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation magazine.

Katrina, welcome back to Democracy Now! Can you first assess — 

KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL: Thank you, Amy.

AMY GOODMAN: — for us what happened on Friday? And then, talk about this — well, it’s amazing how large this meeting is going to be at the White House with the European leaders, as well as Ukrainian President Zelensky and the heads of NATO and the European Commission.

KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL: There are sort of proxy wars on battlefields and in different capitals.

Listen, I think the Trump administration has made so many grave domestic and foreign policy steps that it would take an entire show of many moons. But on the Ukrainian process now moving from a ceasefire to a peace process, I think this — what we’re witnessing is a kind of a jaw, jaw, jaw, talk, talk, talk, and trying to find not just a ceasefire, but, as several have said, root cause of this conflict. There’s a difference between a ceasefire and a peace process.

I do think there is — it’s a remarkable — will be a remarkable scene, Amy, when we see the European leaders flanking Zelensky. There is room for dialogue. I think it’s important that Putin, who launched this war of aggression, did speak of the need for providing security guarantees. Those will not be Russian security guarantees, but international security guarantees for Ukraine. I think this process is moving, and no summit, not even a well-prepared one, which the one in Alaska certainly was not, can resolve everything. I think this is important that the steps are — that we’re seeing steps forward and that there’s an investment in diplomacy, not just in weapons, because the disinvestment in diplomacy and the investment in weapons has led to so many being killed, Amy, that it’s time to end this war.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking Friday.

PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: [translated] 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.

Of course, we are ready to work on this. I would like to hope that the understanding we have reached will allow us to get closer to this goal and open the way to peace in Ukraine. We hope that Kyiv and the European capitalists will perceive all of this in a constructive manner and will not create any obstacles or attempt to disrupt the emerging progress through provocations or behind-the-scenes intrigues.

AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s Russian President Vladimir Putin. It’s interesting that he says, of course, Ukraine has to have security guarantees. Now, what exactly does this mean? Is he actually talking about, if the U.S. makes those security guarantees, U.S. troops could be on the ground in Ukraine?

KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL: So, that, I think, is the break point. That’s the Rubicon, Amy. I mean, what I think — and Witkoff, the envoy, the special envoy to Moscow, said on a Sunday show the other day about you might see U.S. troops on the ground. I don’t think that’s — you’re going to see that. What he’s calling on, Putin, is Europe to take more of the burden of this.

But let me just step back for a moment. This is a regional security humanitarian crisis. Ukraine is not a core U.S. interest. President Obama said that. It is an important — important to resolve this crisis. Sixty-nine percent of Ukrainians seek a peace negotiation. The United States — not to link treasure of real lives and money — but has put in $175 billion into Ukraine, security, weapons, etc., since 2022. And I think The New York Times did a brilliant article, which got little attention, a few months ago called “The Partnership.” This has become a proxy war. The Ukraine war is not the United States’ war.

Europe has decided, however, that it is going to rearm — rearmament of Europe is now a generational struggle for identity in Europe. Putin, I think, and especially Trump, see Europe playing more of a role in the security discussion — maybe U.N. peacekeepers, but it’s not going to be U.S. troops, and it’s going to be some form. But it is important that that is where the discussion now centers, to some extent, because it reprises the former diplomatic negotiations of Minsk I, Minsk II, which have been aborted, sabotaged, undermined by both the Russians and the United States. But it is ironic to see Marco Rubio arguing against sanctions, more sanctions on Russia, considering his role on Cuba, etc.

But it’s at a point where you have different elements. There are those inside the Trump administration — I’ll stop — who would like to end the Ukraine war to pivot to China. But there are those who see the idea of U.S. troops on the ground as heretical. And Europe is trying to find its identity in the belief, a narrative belief that I think has deformed U.S.-Russian foreign policy and European, that Russia is an inherently expansionist power. I know that’s heretical, but I don’t think Russia wants to pay pensions in the Baltics. Russia has been exposed, to a large extent, as a weak power. Putin thought he could take Ukraine in three days. The army has been revealed, in Russia and in Ukraine, as being not as strong. So, I think we’re on a track that is going to find an end, and hopefully in addressing root causes.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to go to French President Emmanuel Macron speaking Sunday ahead of Ukrainian President Zelensky’s meeting with President Trump and Macron and the other European leaders today at the White House.

PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON: [translated] We must enter a new diplomatic phase, one in which we assume responsibility for having and defending the interests of Europeans. We’re going there tomorrow, not just to accompany Ukrainian President Zelensky, but to defend the interests of Europeans. Europe doesn’t want to be at the table for major discussions as a topic of discussion. Europe must be at the table to discuss itself and its future. That’s what I would like.

AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s the French President Emmanuel Macron. He and Germany’s leader, Friedrich Merz, as well as Giorgia Meloni of Italy, Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Union, Alexander Stubb of Finland, Mark Rutte, the head of NATO, and Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, will all be there. What are each of their interests? Or are they all the same, Katrina?

KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL: It’s interesting that Rutte, who is the head of NATO, an institution that is not known just for coffee klatsches — it’s been expanding in the last years. It’s a haven for military companies. But it’s also perceived as, you know, keeping Germany down, Russia out, America in. That was the mantra after World War II. NATO has been at the root cause of much conflict between the United States and Russia.

But again, Europe now sees in Russia, or Putin’s Russia, they see hooves and — you know, hooves and horns, but they also see inherently expansionist Russia, which they are now defending against. As I said, having traveled in Europe in March to U.K., France and Germany, what you saw was a resurgent right against a kind of atomized center and a left that is finding its way, but that there is a sense of a generational commitment to rearming Europe to take on Russia.

And you think of what is at the forefront of our security crises. You have a weakened Russia, already weakened not as much as many would like. But you have security crises, and you have pandemics, and you have — at the root of so much is also there should be more attention to the danger of escalation, nuclear escalation. And by the way, in the Western Hemisphere now, Ukraine has absorbed so much energy that there’s been very little attention paid to the full dismantling of the infrastructure of arms control. In February 2026, the last remaining arms control agreement between the U.S. and Russia, START II, is either signed or it expires. John Bolton, who has pranced around the TV shows denouncing Trump — should remember that he, under George W., abolished the centerpiece of the arms control movement, the ABM.

So, there’s a lot of work to be done in rebuilding, and certainly — I’ll stop — rebuilding Ukraine, the damage, the ravage, that Russia should participate in rebuilding costs. But you have 40% AWOL statistics now from the Ukrainian military, and Russia appears at some point to have been losing 1,000, 1,500 men a day. This is untenable. I think the battlefield facts are driving, to some extent, this pressure to find a ceasefire into a peace resolution.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to end with Ukrainian President Zelensky responding to the Putin-Trump summit while he was in Brussels, Belgium, during a joint news conference with the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY: [translated] First of all, I don’t know what Putin and President Trump actually talked about, and I want President Trump to tell me a lot of details, and then to European leaders. And the fact that President Trump gave a signal about security guarantees is much more important to me than Putin’s thoughts, because Putin will not give any security guarantees. Security guarantees are a strong army. Only Ukraine can provide that.

AMY GOODMAN: So. Katrina vanden Heuvel, your final comments right now, as we move into today, this mass meeting at the White House, and where you see this ultimately all going? Do you see a trilateral summit with Zelensky, Putin and Trump?

KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL: I’m not sure. I’m not sure that’s the best way. I think it’s important that Zelensky is meeting with European leaders behind him with Trump. At the same time, there seems to be a kind of — the way this relationship in the summit has been understood as a victory for Putin is wrongheaded. It’s a victory for moving away from ravage of war. But I do think that we’re going to see process moving, and I hope that those in the prisons of both Ukraine and Russia — my colleague Boris Kagarlitsky, of many years, has been in prison in Russia for now two or three years — that the people are released, that there’s a normalcy that returns as countries are being rebuilt.

But Europe needs to rethink what security for Europe means. Does it mean this century-old return to warfare in Europe? When you witness Ukraine as little as we do, notice that it’s kind of a World War I fighting in the trenches, inch by inch, with 21st-century weapons. And I return: Let us put down those weapons and talk, talk, talk, and find a real, true security guarantee, not provided by Russia by any measure. But there’s talk of armed neutrality, U.N. peacekeepers, and not, as Witkoff, special envoy to Moscow, said, crazily, U.S. troops. That is the line against which all will stop.

AMY GOODMAN: Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation magazine, expert on Russia, thanks so much for being with us.

Up next, we go to Tel Aviv. Organizers say more than a million Israelis joined demonstrations across Israel calling for an end to the war in Gaza. We’ll speak with +972 reporter Oren Ziv. Stay with us.

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AMY GOODMAN: Ms. Rachel dancing with Rahaf, a 3-year-old double amputee from Gaza who lost her legs in an Israeli airstrike and came to the U.S. for medical care. On Saturday, the U.S. State Department halted all visitor visas from Gaza, including for children like Rahaf. The move was announced one day after far-right activist Laura Loomer posted a video complaining that injured Palestinian children are coming to the U.S. for care. The U.S.-based Palestine Children’s Relief Fund decried what it called a, quote, “dangerous and inhumane decision,” unquote. You can go to democracynow.org to see our interview with Ms. Rachel.