US President Trump believes that Russia and Ukraine do not need to implement a ceasefire first, but can instead “directly enter” peace negotiations and reach a peace agreement.
He expressed this view on the 18th at the White House during a series of meetings with Ukrainian President Zelensky and several European leaders.
Trump first held a bilateral meeting with Zelensky. Afterwards, NATO Secretary-General Rutte, European Commission President von der Leyen, German Chancellor Merz, Italian Prime Minister Meloni, French President Macron, British Prime Minister Starmer, and Finnish President Stubb attended a multi-party US-Ukraine-Europe meeting.
In the public remarks session open to the media during the multi-party meeting, Merz stated that they had now entered a “complex stage of negotiations”, and that all parties hoped to see a ceasefire. He added that a US-Russia-Ukraine meeting should not be held without a ceasefire in place. Trump responded by saying that of the six wars he participated in resolving, not one started with a ceasefire, adding, “We all directly entered into negotiations.”
During the 20 minutes of public remarks, “security guarantees” were mentioned several times. European leaders stressed the importance of a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire and providing Ukraine with security guarantees.
In addition, during the media session before the closed-door meeting with Zelensky, Trump was asked whether US security guarantees for Ukraine would include sending American troops. He did not directly respond, but said that Europe is “the first line of defense, because they are right there, but we will assist them, and we will be involved.”
That evening, Trump also posted on social media saying that he had already called Russian President Putin and would begin arranging a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, to be followed by a trilateral meeting between the leaders of the US, Russia, and Ukraine.
Details of Ukraine’s Security Guarantees to Be Formulated in the Next 10 Days
On the 18th, Ukrainian President Zelensky stated to the media outside the White House that details concerning Ukraine’s security guarantees would be drafted within the next 10 days.
He said that more and more details related to Ukraine’s security guarantees would “emerge” and that these would be finalized in some form next week or within the next 10 days.
He noted that he was ready to meet with Russian President Putin in “any form”, and that there should be no preconditions for such a meeting.
He said: “I unconditionally believe that we should have a meeting.”