Trump says US to co-ordinate European security guarantees for Ukraine
Donald Trump said the US would help arrange European security guarantees for Ukraine if peace could be agreed with Russia, as he pledged to set up a meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin.
Writing on social media on Monday evening after a day of intense diplomacy in Washington, Trump said America would provide “co-ordination” for Europe’s security guarantees — but stopped short of a full-throated commitment of American military support for Kyiv.
The Kremlin also did not confirm that Russia would arrange for Putin and Zelenskyy to meet, leaving the centrepiece of Trump’s proposal in doubt.
The US president had been under pressure from Zelenskyy and European allies to offer robust security guarantees to Ukraine in any peace deal, after he failed to secure a ceasefire from Putin at a summit last week in Alaska.
Speaking alongside the Ukrainian president in the Oval Office, Trump said the US would be “involved” in helping Ukraine defend itself but the burden would mainly be on Europe.
Later, on Truth Social, he wrote: “During the meeting we discussed Security Guarantees for Ukraine, which Guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a co-ordination with the United States of America.”
Zelenskyy said in a statement on Monday evening that security guarantees were a “key issue, a starting point for ending the war”.
Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte, who attended the talks in Washington with Trump, Zelenskyy and several European leaders, told Fox News that the group would work on the details of security guarantees for Ukraine “over the coming days” and reconvene virtually.
He added that putting troops on the ground would be part of Nato member talks.
Trump’s push for a meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents suggests he still sees a path to mediate a resolution to the conflict, which began when Moscow launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Russia did not confirm that Putin would meet Zelenskyy, or was arranging a bilateral summit, even after the US and Russian presidents spoke on the phone in the midst of the negotiations on Monday.
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Starmer says White House meeting boosted opportunity for peace
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the US plans to start “detailed work” immediately with the so-called Coalition of the Willing on security guarantees for Ukraine following Monday’s meeting with President Trump.
Starmer said there had been a “significant breakthrough” at the talks that “enhance[d] the chance of peace”.
“We’re now going to be working with the US on those security guarantees, we’ve tasked our teams, some of them are even arriving tomorrow to start the detailed work on that,” Starmer said, adding that bilateral and trilateral meetings between Ukraine, Russia and the US were now expected.
“Through serious diplomacy, through planning for these outcomes, we’ve managed to get two material steps forward today which enhance the chances of peace.”
Nato leaders to meet virtually to hammer out details of security guarantees
Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte said that the leaders who gathered at the White House would work on the details of security guarantees for Ukraine “over the coming days” and reconvene virtually.
He said the leaders did not discuss troops on the ground “at all today” but “that will be part of the discussions which will now start”, Rutte told Fox News on Monday after the summit.
Rutte said that for Kyiv to “consider what to do next when it comes to territory, it is important to also know what the situation will be with the security guarantees to prevent Vladimir Putin from ever, ever trying again to invade parts of Ukraine.”
Rutte said that what is being discussed are “Article-5-type of security guarantees” for Kyiv, and not Nato membership since the US and other countries are against Ukraine joining the alliance. He described Washington’s decision to get involved in these guarantees as a “breakthrough”.