Trump promises security for Ukraine, says pact attainable

US President Donald Trump said on Monday a peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine was attainable as he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders. He said the US would help Europe in providing security to Ukraine as part of any deal to end the war.

Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House, said all would prefer an immediate ceasefire but he was optimistic that an agreement could be reached to deter aggression in Ukraine. But Trump also suggested that he no longer believed reaching a ceasefire was a necessary prerequisite for striking a peace agreement, backing a position staked out by Russian President Vladimir Putin and opposed by Zelenskyy and most European leaders.

Zelenskyy and Trump expressed hope that the talks at the White House could lead to trilateral talks with Putin to bring an end to the war. The two leaders took questions from the media in the Oval Office before meeting in private, six months after their last appearance there descended into disaster when Trump and Vice-President JD Vance upbraided Zelenskyy in an extraordinary public dressing-down.

This time, Trump and Zelenskyy struck a far more convivial tone, despite the US President’s movement toward Russia in recent days following his summit in Alaska with Putin.

Zelenskyy was backed by the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, the European Union and NATO, who travelled to Washington to demonstrate solidarity with Ukraine and push for strong security guarantees for the country in any post-war settlement.

“When it comes to security, there’s going to be a lot of help,” Trump told reporters, adding that European countries would be involved. “They are a first line of defence because they’re there, but we’ll help them out.”

Trump greeted Zelenskyy outside the White House, shaking hands with him and expressing delight at Zelenskyy’s black suit, a departure from his typical military clothes.

When a reporter asked Trump what his message was to the people of Ukraine, he said twice, “We love them.” Zelenskyy thanked him, and Trump put his hand on Zelenskyy’s back in a show of affection before the two men went inside to the Oval Office.

Trump is pressing for a quick end to Europe’s deadliest war in 80 years, and Kyiv and its allies worry he could seek to force an agreement on Russia’s terms after the President on Friday in Alaska rolled out the red carpet for Putin, who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

Trump said he liked the concept of a ceasefire, but they could work on a peace deal while the fighting continued. “I wish they could stop, I’d like them to stop,” he said.

Zelenskyy said he was ready to sit down and talk to stop the war. “”We need to stop this war, to stop Russia and we need support—American and European partners,” Zelenskyy told reporters.

Zelenskyy has already all but rejected the outline of Putin’s proposals from the Alaska meeting. Those include handing over the remaining quarter of its eastern Donetsk region, which is largely controlled by Russia. Ukrainian forces are deeply dug into the region, whose towns and hills serve as a crucial defensive zone to stymie Russian attacks.