US President Donald Trump said on Monday that if his meeting with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy went well he expected to hold a trilateral meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin with the objective of ending the Ukraine-Russia war.
"We're going to have a meeting. I think if everything works out well today we'll have a trilat and I think there will be a reasonable chance of ending the war when we do that," said Trump, sitting alongside Zelenskyy at the White House.
The US president. however, repeated his view that a ceasefire was not necessary to end the Russia-Ukraine war, echoing earlier comments that brought his position more in line with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he met last week. "I don't think you need a ceasefire," Trump said.
"I know that it might be good to have, but I can also understand strategically why one country or the other wouldn't want it. You have a ceasefire and they rebuild and rebuild and rebuild and you know maybe they don't want that," he added.
Trump also said that the US will be involved in providing security guarantees as part of a peace agreement on ending Russia's war.
The US president said that while European countries are "the first line of defense because they are there, they are Europe, we're going to help them out also. We'll be involved."
Asked if he would rule out a US troops deployment, the president said, “We’ll let you know that, maybe, later today. We’re meeting with seven great leaders of great countries, also, and we’ll be talking about that.”
Zelenskyy's meeting with Trump comes after the US president held bilateral talks with his Russian President in Alaska on August 15.
The European political heavy-hitters, who were left out of Trump’s summit, now look to safeguard Ukraine and the continent from any widening aggression from Moscow.
Monday’s showing is a sign both of the progress and the possible distress coming out of the Friday summit, as many of Europe’s leaders are descending on Washington with the explicit goal of protecting Ukraine’s interests, a rare and sweeping show of diplomatic force.
'Thank you', slient Vance and sartorial diplomatic progress
Zelenskyy thanked Trump for hosting the talks, which will be expanded to include European leaders later in the day.
"Thank you for (the) invitation and thank you very much for your efforts, personal efforts to stop killings and stop this war," he said.
“We are ready for trilateral,” Zelenskyy echoed Trump.
Unlike the last time he was in the Oval Office with Zelenskyy, Vance made no comments during the public portion of Monday’s meeting. Seated on a couch with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vance sat by as Trump and Zelenskyy interacted and took questions from reporters.
During February’s tense Oval Office meeting, Vance called Zelenskyy “disrespectful” for airing disagreements with Trump in public.
Zelenskyy grew defensive, and Trump and his vice president blasted him as ungrateful, issuing stark warnings about future American support.
Brian Glenn, a conservative reporter, told Zelenskyy that “you look fabulous in that suit.” Glenn had asked the Ukrainian leader about his clothing during his last visit to the Oval Office, implying that his casual dress was disrespectful.
Trump jumped in saying, “I said the same thing.” Turning to Zelenskyy, Trump said “that’s the one that attacked you last time.”
“I remember that,” Zelenskyy said as laughter rippled through the room.
Trumps says he’ll talk to Putin, needles zelenskyy on elections
Trump said the Russian leader is “expecting my call when we’re finished with this meeting” with Zelenskyy and the group of European leaders waiting at the White House.
As Zelenskyy answered a question about the difficulty of holding an election during Ukraine’s war with Russia, Trump appeared to jokingly hypothesize how a similar circumstance could allow him to stay in power in the US past the expiration of his current term.
“So let me just say three and a half years from now — so you mean, if we happen to be in a war with somebody, no more elections, oh, I wonder what the fake news would say,” Trump said.
Zelenskyy noted the difficulties of being able to hold elections during wartime, saying that a “truce” would be needed to do so safely.
“We can do security,” Zelenskyy said.
“We need ... a truce, yes, everywhere — the battlefield, the sky and the sea, to make it possible for people to do democratic open legal elections.”
What will the security guarantee look like?
While Trump has suggested potential security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a future peace deal with Russia, their scope and implementation remain unclear.
The United States could offer Ukraine "Article 5-like protection", Trump's Russia envoy Steve Witkoff said after the Alaska summit.
Article 5 is a cornerstone of the NATO Western military alliance, stating that an attack on any member is deemed to be an attack on all.
Each member state must then take the actions "it deems necessary -- including the use of armed force" –- but there is no automatic commitment to direct military action.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that European leaders would ask Trump "to what extent" he would back security guarantees for Ukraine.
Would Europe go it alone?
The main uncertainty is whether guarantees would go beyond the material and financial aid already provided to Kyiv since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion -- and extend to the unlikely prospect of direct military intervention if Moscow resumes hostilities.
The so-called "coalition of the willing" –- some 30 countries led by France and Britain -- says it stands ready to support Ukraine to prevent fighting from resuming.
Military planning has been under way since February and according to several sources includes support for rebuilding Ukraine's army, seen as its main security guarantee, as well as air assets to protect its airspace and Black Sea traffic. A deployment of "several thousand troops" in Ukraine is also under consideration, Macron said.
"These forces are not intended to hold a front line or be engaged in a hot conflict but to signal solidarity from a strategic point of view," he added.
But European unity around the plan should not be "overstated", according to Rym Momtaz, a researcher at Carnegie Europe.
France, the UK and the Baltic states have signalled their readiness to participate. But "those who have large battalions on the ground in Europe do not want to go there", said researcher Stephane Audrand. "Warsaw and Berlin are saying no for the time being," he added.
Many European countries insist on a US backstop before making any commitment.
Apart from the French, "few within the alliance can imagine military action without the Americans -- not even the British", Audrand said.
Is Putin setting a 'trap'?
Security guarantees are billed as a way to prevent fighting from resuming, unlike the Minsk accords of 2014 and 2015, which contained no such provisions.
But past pledges have failed: Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom committed in Budapest in 1994 to respect Ukraine's borders in exchange for its nuclear disarmament -- a deal that "did not work", Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said.
"Guaranteeing a country's security ultimately means only one thing: being prepared to fight to save it if necessary," said Audrand.
"And that is a sticking point for Europeans."
For Russia specialist Dimitri Minic, "Moscow will not accept any solid security guarantees for Ukraine" –- guarantees that "Washington is not prepared to give anyway."
"Outside of NATO, there is no credible guarantor of Ukrainian security," said Janis Kluge at the Berlin-based SWP think tank.
"Putin will never accept any outcome of the war that leaves Ukraine free and functioning," he added.
"If it seems like Putin is agreeing to this, it's a trap."
