Zelensky, EU leaders travel to US for discussions on peace agreement terms

Former US President Donald Trump declared that Ukraine reclaiming Crimea or joining NATO was “off the table,” as President Volodymyr Zelensky landed in Washington on Monday for high-stakes talks on ending the war with Russia.

Zelensky, who has consistently ruled out territorial compromises, is scheduled to meet Trump in Washington alongside European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and several other European leaders.

The talks follow last Friday’s Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, which did not secure a ceasefire but produced pledges from both leaders to offer Ukraine “strong security guarantees.”

Notably, Zelensky was excluded from the Alaska meeting, after which Trump aligned with Russia’s long-standing stance that a ceasefire was unnecessary before finalizing a peace agreement.

“President Zelensky of Ukraine could end this war with Russia almost immediately if he chooses, or he can continue fighting,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.

He added: “There’s no taking back Crimea (Obama gave it away 12 years ago, without firing a shot!), and NO NATO membership for Ukraine. Some things never change!!!”

According to the White House schedule, Trump and Zelensky will first hold a one-on-one meeting before being joined by European leaders, including von der Leyen, NATO chief Mark Rutte, and the heads of Britain, Finland, France, Germany, and Italy.

It will be the first time Zelensky visits Washington since a bust-up with Trump and Vice President JD Vance in February when the two men berated the Ukrainian leader for being “ungrateful.”

On Sunday night, after arriving in Washington, Zelensky said: “We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably.”

Security guarantees
Since the Oval Office row in February, Trump has grown more critical of Putin and shown some signs of frustration as Russia repeatedly stalled on peace talks.

But Washington has not placed extra sanctions on Moscow and the lavish welcome offered to Putin in Alaska on his first visit to the West since he invaded Ukraine in 2022 was seen as a diplomatic coup for Russia.

Speaking in Brussels on the eve of his visit to the United States, Zelensky said he was keen to hear more about what Putin and Trump discussed in Alaska.

He also hailed Washington’s offer of security guarantees to Ukraine as “historic.”

Trump said he spoke to Putin about the possibility of a Nato-style collective defense guarantee for Ukraine.

The promise would be outside of the framework of the Western military alliance that Ukraine wants to join and which is seen as an existential threat by Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron said European leaders would ask Trump “to what extent” Washington is ready to contribute to security guarantees for Ukraine.

Discussion on land

Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said Moscow had made “some concessions” regarding five Ukrainian regions that Russia fully or partially controls, and said that “there is an important discussion with regard to Donetsk and what would happen there.

“That discussion is going to specifically be detailed on Monday,” he said, without giving details.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 following a sham referendum and did the same in 2022 for four Ukrainian regions Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia even though its forces have not fully captured them.

A source briefed on a phone call between Trump and European leaders on Saturday told AFP that the US leader was “inclined to support” a Russian demand to be given territory it has not yet captured in the Donbas, an area that includes the Donetsk and Lugansk regions and which has seen the deadliest battles of the war.

In exchange, the source cited Trump as saying, Moscow would agree to “freeze” the front line in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, where Russian forces hold swathes of territory but not the regional capitals.

Russia has until now insisted that Ukraine pull its forces out of all four regions as a precondition to any deal.