President Donald Trump announced that Vladimir Putin has agreed to accept security guarantees for Ukraine, setting the stage for potential direct negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders that could reshape the three-year conflict.
Following high-level diplomatic meetings at the White House, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed readiness to meet with Putin, with discussions potentially occurring before month’s end and followed by a trilateral summit including Trump.
White House Summit Brings Together Key Players
Trump hosted an unprecedented gathering of Western leaders on Monday, convening what amounted to a war council on Ukraine’s future. The meeting included:
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer
- French President Emmanuel Macron
- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
- German opposition leader Friedrich Merz
- Finnish President Alexander Stubb
- NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
The summit followed Trump’s meeting with Putin in Alaska the previous week, where the groundwork for potential negotiations was reportedly established.
Security Guarantees Framework Emerges
Trump revealed that Putin had “agreed that Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine,” though he emphasized that European nations would shoulder primary responsibility for implementation.
“I think that 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 stated.
European leaders welcomed the prospect of meaningful security arrangements. Von der Leyen described it as “good to hear” that nations were developing “Article Five-like security guarantees”—referencing NATO’s collective defense principle that treats an attack on one member as an attack on all.
Starmer emphasized that such guarantees would ensure “a lasting deal” with real “consequences if Russia breached it,” while Macron stressed the broader implications for “the whole security of the European continent.”
The French president specifically advocated for Ukraine maintaining a “credible” military capability “for the years and decades to come” as part of any agreement.
Territorial Concessions on the Table
The diplomatic breakthrough comes with significant potential costs for Ukraine. Reports from Trump’s Alaska meeting with Putin suggest Russia is demanding control over the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions as a condition for ending the war.
In exchange, Russia would reportedly withdraw from other occupied Ukrainian territories. Russian forces currently control large portions of these regions, which Moscow claimed to have annexed in September 2022 alongside Kherson and Zaporizhia—moves the West rejected as illegal.
Trump openly acknowledged that territorial arrangements were under consideration, telling reporters: “We also need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory,” taking “into consideration the current line of contact.”
He described the current battle lines as “pretty obvious, very sad, actually, to look at them and negotiating positions.”
Diplomatic Tensions Remain
Despite the progress, disagreements persist among the Western allies. German opposition leader Merz challenged Trump’s suggestion that peace could be achieved without a ceasefire, stating he “can’t imagine” a Zelenskyy-Putin meeting occurring without one.
The exchanges highlighted ongoing tensions between Trump’s approach and traditional European diplomatic preferences, though all parties appeared committed to continuing negotiations.
Zelenskyy’s Evolving Position
The Ukrainian president’s willingness to engage directly with Putin marks a potential shift from his previous positions. The White House meeting represented a dramatic improvement from Zelenskyy and Trump’s contentious February encounter, with the atmosphere described as notably more cordial.
Trump complimented Zelenskyy’s attire and promised “very good protection” for Ukraine, while the Ukrainian leader appeared more receptive to American-led diplomatic initiatives.
Next Steps in Diplomacy
Trump conducted a phone call with Putin during the White House meetings, breaking away from discussions with European leaders to speak privately with the Russian president before returning to brief the group on their conversation.
A Kremlin official, Kirill Dmitriev, later praised the day as “important for diplomacy,” though Russia has not publicly commented on specific security guarantee proposals or territorial arrangements.
European leaders and Zelenskyy are expected to remain in Washington to continue negotiations, signaling the urgency all parties place on reaching a breakthrough that could end Europe’s most significant conflict since World War II.
The coming weeks will test whether this diplomatic momentum can bridge the fundamental differences between Ukraine’s sovereignty concerns and Russia’s territorial demands while establishing security arrangements that prevent future conflicts.
