Key points
- Zelensky, EU Leaders to meet Trump in DC
- Fears US may back Russian land demands
- Trump Proposes Summit with Putin, Zelensky
ISLAMABAD: United States President Donald Trump said reclaiming Crimea or entering NATO were off the table for Ukraine, as President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Washington for Monday’s talks aimed at ending the war with Russia.
Zelensky, who has repeatedly rejected territorial concessions, will meet Trump in Washington on Monday, accompanied by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and other leaders, according to AFP.
BIG DAY at the White House tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/EvuDxBuAam
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 18, 2025
For so many heads of state to travel with such little notice across the Atlantic to what is essentially a wartime crisis meeting appears without precedent in the modern era, underscoring the sky-high stakes. Diplomatic sources say European officials are concerned that Trump may try to press Zelensky to agree to terms, after the Ukrainian leader was excluded from the Trump-Putin meeting on US soil last Friday, according to BBC. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that any suggestion Zelensky might be bullied by Trump into accepting a peace deal was a “stupid media narrative”, CBS reported.
Summit programme
According to Anadolu Agency, here is the programme of the summit, Washington (local time).
- 12:00 pm European leaders arrive to the White House.
- 1:00 pm Trump greets Zelensky.
- 1:15 pm Trump participates in a bilateral meeting with Zelensky.
- 2:15 pm Trump greets European leaders.
- 2:30 pm Trump participates in a family photo with European leaders.
- 3:00 pm Trump participates in a multilateral meeting with European leaders.
“Robust security guarantees”
The meeting comes on the heels of a summit between Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, which failed to yield a ceasefire breakthrough but produced promises from both leaders to provide “robust security guarantees” to Ukraine, according to AFP.
“We made some great progress today… We had an extremely productive meeting and many points were agreed to.” – President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/WBTMLcI0Cv
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 15, 2025
Zelensky was not invited to the Alaska meeting, after which Trump pivoted to the long-held Russian position that a ceasefire was not needed before a final peace deal.
“A great and very successful day in Alaska… It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement… President Zelenskyy will be coming to D.C., the Oval Office, on Monday…” – President Trump pic.twitter.com/9GMYzjKnis
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 16, 2025
“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump posted on his social media platform. “Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!”
Trump and Zelensky are expected to meet one-on-one before being joined by a cohort of European leaders Monday, according to the White House schedule.
Along with von der Leyen, NATO chief Mark Rutte and the leaders of Britain, Finland, France, Germany and Italy will be present.
“Ungrateful”
It will be the first time Zelensky visits Washington since a bust-up with Trump and Vice President JD Vance in February when the two men berated the Ukrainian leader for being “ungrateful.”
On Sunday night, after arriving in Washington, Zelensky said: “We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably.”
Since the Oval Office row in February, Trump has grown more critical of Putin and shown some signs of frustration as Russia repeatedly stalled on peace talks.
But Washington has not placed extra sanctions on Moscow and the lavish welcome offered to Putin in Alaska on his first visit to the West since he invaded Ukraine in 2022 was seen as a diplomatic coup for Russia.
Speaking in Brussels on the eve of his visit to the United States, Zelensky said he was keen to hear more about what Putin and Trump discussed in Alaska.
“Historic”
He also hailed Washington’s offer of security guarantees to Ukraine as “historic.”
Trump said he spoke to Putin about the possibility of a NATO-style collective defense guarantee for Ukraine.
The promise would be outside of the framework of the Western military alliance which Ukraine wants to join and which is seen as an existential threat by Russia.
French President Emmanuel Macron said European leaders would ask Trump “to what extent” Washington is ready to contribute to security guarantees for Ukraine.
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said Moscow had made “some concessions” regarding five Ukrainian regions that Russia fully or partially controls, and said that “there is an important discussion with regard to Donetsk and what would happen there.
“That discussion is going to specifically be detailed on Monday,” he said, without giving details.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 following a sham referendum and did the same in 2022 for four Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia — even though its forces have not fully captured them.
“Inclined to support”
A source briefed on a phone call between Trump and European leaders on Saturday told AFP that the US leader was “inclined to support” a Russian demand to be given territory it has not yet captured in the Donbas, an area that includes the Donetsk and Lugansk regions and which has seen the deadliest battles of the war.
In exchange, the source cited Trump as saying, Moscow would agree to “freeze” the front line in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, where Russian forces hold swathes of territory but not the regional capitals.
Russia has until now insisted that Ukraine pull its forces out of all four regions as a precondition to any deal.
“A capitulation”
There is concern in Europe that Washington could pressure Ukraine to accept Russia’s terms.
“For peace to prevail, pressure must be applied to the aggressor, not the victim of aggression,” Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Sunday.
Macron said: “There is only one state proposing a peace that would be a capitulation: Russia.”
Zelensky has repeatedly pushed back against ceding territory, but said he is ready to discuss the issue in the context of a trilateral summit with Trump and Putin.
Trump has raised the possibility of such a meeting, but Russia has played down the prospect.
Moscow’s forces have been advancing gradually but steadily in Ukraine, particularly in the Donetsk region.
Moscow is often accused by Ukraine and its allies of playing for time to make additional gains, according to AFP.
