Trump has publicly announced that he is arranging a direct summit between Putin and Zelenskyy, followed by a trilateral meeting including himself. This would indeed be the first head-to-head summit between Russian and Ukrainian leaders since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The proposal surfaced during talks at the White House, where Trump hosted Zelenskyy and a number of top European leaders including France’s Emmanuel Macron, the UK’s Keir Starmer, and Germany’s Friedrich Merz. Trump confirmed that he spoke with Putin by phone and began planning the bilateral and trilateral meetings to address the war and Ukraine’s future security.
European leaders support the move. German Chancellor Merz stated Putin agreed to a direct meeting with Zelenskyy within two weeks, although no date or venue is finalized. The Kremlin has not formally confirmed the summit but, according to Russian aides and Ukrainian officials, Putin has expressed openness to continued negotiations.
Security guarantees for Ukraine were a central topic. Trump has suggested that European nations would provide the “first line of defence,” with the United States playing a supporting and coordinating role. Zelenskyy said these guarantees, possibly modeled on NATO’s Article 5, could be formalized within 7–10 days.
Trump reiterated that Ukraine should not expect to reclaim Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, and cast doubt on Ukraine’s future NATO membership positions he emphasized in public statements and that align more closely with Russian preferences. This may complicate peace efforts, as Zelenskyy and Ukrainian officials maintain that ceding territory is unconstitutional and the issue remains a major stumbling block.
The recent Trump-Putin summit in Alaska set the stage for these developments, but concrete terms especially regarding permanent ceasefire or territorial boundaries are still in dispute.
US officials, including VP JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are overseeing talks between Russia and Ukraine, but there is no indication that Russia has agreed to specific NATO-like guarantees. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has publicly ruled out any scenario involving a NATO military contingent in Ukraine.
(source Politico.com)
—Agencies
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