Trump tells Zelenskyy US will be involved in security guarantees for Ukraine

As the world held its breath on Monday to watch the Trump-Zelenskyy rematch in the Oval Office, with EU leaders listening in from next door, the two presidents flipped the script of the previous harrowing shouting match, underscoring the historic gravity of the event and their determination to make their relationship work.

“Substantial progress is being made”, US President Donald Trump said as he welcomed his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, stating for the first time that the US could step in for the security guarantees for Ukraine. 

“Europe is the first line of defence”, Trump said, adding “but we will help, we will be involved” as he did not reject the idea of US peacekeepers on the ground in Ukraine. 

After Trump and Zelenskyy finished their bilateral meeting, they were joined by the seven European leaders who came to Washington with the Ukrainian leader to show Europe’s united support for both Ukraine and the US president's peace deal efforts.  

Trump said, "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 added that one point discussed with the leaders in Washington tonight was "who would do what."

Zelenskyy said security guarantees were an important part of a "very good conversation".

"We spoke about very sensitive points. The first one is security guarantees … Security in Ukraine depends on the United States, and on you and on those leaders who are with us in our hearts," the Ukrainian president emphasised.

Notably, Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed that the Kremlin would accept security guarantees for Ukraine.

"I believe that in a very significant step, President Putin agreed that Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine," the US president explained.

But as the European leaders together with Zelenskyy and Trump discussed “who will do what” in terms of these guarantees, Moscow issued a statement that it will not accept any scenarios involving the deployment of NATO member troops in Ukraine. 

"(This) could lead to an uncontrollable escalation of the conflict with unpredictable consequences," Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Monday.

Will Trump and Zelenskyy meet Putin?

The US president reiterated that the next step was getting Putin on the phone after the talks with Zelenskyy and the European leaders. 

"And we may or may not have a trilateral meeting - if we don't have a (trilateral meeting), then the fighting continues. And if we do, we have a good chance, I think if we have a 'trilat' there's a good chance of maybe ending it," Trump stated.

Zelenskyy said he was ready for a trilateral between himself, Putin and Trump. In the past, Ukraine’s president has repeatedly called for a direct meeting with Putin, which Moscow rejected every time, including when Zelenskyy went to Turkey, calling for a face-to-face sit-down with Putin. 

Russia’s president has so far only agreed to a meeting with Trump, which took place in Alaska last Friday. 

At the Monday talks at the White House, Trump said he hopes a trilateral meeting will take place as soon as possible, and this is when the territories could be discussed. 

"We also need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory," Trump pointed out, suggesting that it would be based on the current frontlines and what land Russia occupies.

"That means the war zone, the war lines that are now, pretty obvious, very sad, actually, to look at them and negotiating positions."

What the US president called “land swapping” is arguably the most complicated aspect of any possible deal, as it only includes the territorial concessions for Ukraine and no compromise whatsoever for Russia. 

Any possible negotiations on this matter will undoubtedly take considerable time, which is why Zelenskyy and the European leaders said they wanted to have a ceasefire first -- only then can the talks put an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine. 

Trump, who initially supported the idea of a ceasefire, seems to have changed his mind after the meeting with Putin in Alaska, when he started pushing a peace deal instead.

The US president admitted the change of strategy on Monday, saying, “All of us would obviously prefer an immediate ceasefire while we work on a lasting peace. Maybe something like that could happen. As of this moment, it’s not happening.”

The European leaders tried to steer Trump’s peace efforts back to the initial approach, insisting that without a ceasefire, Putin has more time to continue raging his war. 

“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 Zelenskyy, “I don't think you need a ceasefire."

As the two leaders were finishing their talks at the White House, Russia launched dozens of drones at Ukrainian cities, starting yet another overnight attack.