WASHINGTON
\nUS President Donald Trump said reclaiming Crimea or entering Nato were off the table for Ukraine, as President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Washington for Monday 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.
\nThe meeting comes on the heels of a summit between Trump and Russia\u2019s Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, which failed to yield a ceasefire breakthrough but produced promises from both leaders to provide \u201crobust security guarantees\u201d to Ukraine. 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.
\n\u201cPresident Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,\u201d Trump posted on his social media platform. \u201cRemember 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!!!\u201d
\nTrump and Zelensky are expected to meet one-on-one before being joined by a cohort of European leaders on Monday, according to the White House schedule.
\nAlong with von der Leyen, Nato chief Mark Rutte and the leaders of Britain, Finland, France, Germany and Italy will be present.
\nIt 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 \u201cungrateful.\u201d
\nOn Sunday night, after arriving in Washington, Zelensky said: \u201cWe all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably.\u201d
\nSecurity guarantees
\nSince 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.
\nBut 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.
\nSpeaking 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.
\nHe also hailed Washington\u2019s offer of security guarantees to Ukraine as \u201chistoric.\u201d
\nTrump said he spoke to Putin about the possibility of a Nato-style collective defense guarantee for Ukraine.
\nThe promise would be outside of the framework of the Western military alliance that Ukraine wants to join and which is seen as an existential threat by Russia.
\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron said European leaders would ask Trump \u201cto what extent\u201d Washington is ready to contribute to security guarantees for Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON US President Donald Trump said reclaiming Crimea or entering Nato were off the table for Ukraine, as President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Washington for Monday 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-497561","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n