European leaders joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Monday to seek stronger U.S. security commitments for Kiev and ensure Europe remains at the table in peace efforts with Russia.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte took part in what officials described as an unusually coordinated meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Participants called the talks “good,” but key questions remained unresolved, including a ceasefire, the legal shape of security guarantees and possible Ukrainian territorial concessions.
DIVISIONS ON CEASEFIRE
The White House sessions highlighted a fundamental split between the United States and Europe over whether to halt fighting before wider negotiations.
During Monday’s meetings with European leaders, Trump had said he was no longer pursuing a ceasefire. “If you look at the six deals that I settled this year, they were all at war. I didn’t do any ceasefires,” Trump stated, telling Zelensky, “I don’t think you need a ceasefire.”
Zelensky, Merz and Macron pushed back, arguing that a truce was essential.
“I cannot imagine the next meeting without a ceasefire,” Merz said, calling it a “complex negotiation.” Macron voiced “great doubts” about Russia’s willingness for peace, warning that Moscow still sought to weaken Ukraine and seize territory. He called a ceasefire a “necessity.”
However, Trump remained unmoved, saying the decision rested with Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We’re going to let the president go over and talk to the president, and we’ll see how that works out,” he said, repeating that none of the conflicts he claimed to have settled involved a truce.
BUYING U.S. WEAPONS FOR SECURITY GUARANTEE
Security guarantees for Ukraine dominated the multilateral talks, mentioned nearly 20 times in public remarks. Trump said Europe would provide most of the commitments, with Washington in a coordinating role.
“I think the European nations are going to take a lot of the burden. We’re going to help them, and we’re going to make it very secure,” Trump said.
After the meetings, he wrote on Truth Social that the guarantees would be provided by “various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America.”
Zelensky told reporters details would be finalized within 10 days, noting Ukraine had proposed buying about 90 billion dollars worth of U.S. weapons. The Financial Times reported Kiev had pitched Washington a plan to purchase 100 billion dollars worth of U.S. arms, financed by European partners.
NATO’s Rutte said troop deployments were not under discussion but could form part of “future conversations.”
Geopolitical analyst Velina Tchakarova said Trump’s approach shifted the burden to Europe, casting Washington as an “enabler rather than anchor tenant.” She warned of risks among the allies if the United States rejects Ukraine’s NATO accession while Europe pushes for stronger guarantees.
TRUMP EYES ZELENSKY-PUTIN SUMMIT
Trump said he was arranging a direct meeting between Zelensky and Putin, to be followed by a trilateral summit with U.S. participation, for which Ukraine was prepared, according to Zelensky.
European leaders welcomed the idea but stressed the need to remain involved. Macron called a trilateral summit “very important” but urged that Europe also have a voice.
“As a follow-up, we would need the quadrilateral meeting, because when we speak about security guarantees, we speak about the whole security of the European continent,” he said.
Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said Trump and Putin backed continued direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations during a phone call. He said Trump initiated the call after the White House meetings and that both leaders discussed raising the level of participants in future negotiations. Enditem
Source: Xinhua
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