Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set for a high-stakes White House meeting with President Donald Trump on Monday, as Washington weighs potential security guarantees for Kyiv and debate grows over whether territorial concessions to Russia could bring the war to an end.
Zelenskyy will be joined at the White House by key European allies, a diplomatic show of unity underscoring Europe’s commitment to supporting Ukraine.
Over the weekend, Zelenskyy recalled his previous White House visit — which was abruptly cut short by a heated exchange between Trump and Vice President JD Vance — and told reporters in Brussels that he hopes Monday’s meeting “will be productive” rather than a repeat of February’s fiery encounter, Fox News reports.
The upcoming meeting follows Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage on Friday, where the U.S. leader moved from pressing for a ceasefire to pushing for a comprehensive peace agreement.
Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, told CNN that Putin agreed to permit the U.S. to provide Ukraine with “robust security guarantees.”
“We got to an agreement that the United States and other European nations could effectively offer Article 5-like language to cover a security guarantee,” he said, a reference to the critical NATO provision encompassing the military alliance’s mutual defense clause, known as Article 5.
The provision holds that an attack on one member constitutes an attack on all, requiring allies to come to one another’s defense. However, the proposed security guarantees for Ukraine would not be issued through NATO, but instead by select European partners as part of a potential Russia-Ukraine peace agreement, Fox noted.
Zelenskyy praised the development during a Sunday press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his side.
“It’s important that America agrees to work with Europe to provide security guarantees for Ukraine, and we are very thankful to the United States under the president for such a signal,” he said.
“This is a significant change, but there are no details about how it will work and what America’s role will be, what Europe’s role will be and what the EU can do,” he added.
Zelensky will be coming into Monday’s White House meeting with Trump with a demand that could be a dealbreaker in terms of reaching any lasting peace arrangement with Russia.
Zelensky said Sunday that Kyiv will not surrender territory not currently occupied by Russian forces as part of any peace deal, adding that Ukraine’s constitution forbids it.
“We need real negotiations,” Zelensky said to reporters in Brussels at a press conference with von der Leyen, per Just the News.
In addition to meeting with Trump, other European leaders are expected to be at the White House as well, reports said.
Zelensky stated that Russia has been unable to seize part of eastern Ukraine it has sought to control since 2014. He emphasized that Russian President Vladimir Putin “has been unable to take it for 12 years, and the constitution of Ukraine makes it impossible … to give up territory or trade land,” according to Politico.
While Trump is pushing for a formal peace deal, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that a possible ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine is “not off the table,” as the U.S. continues to take part in negotiations aimed at ending the war.
“It was agreed to by all that the best way to end this conflict is through a full peace deal,” Rubio said during a “Meet the Press” interview on NBC News. “There’s no doubt about that. I mean, who would be against the fact that tomorrow we came to you and said, ‘We have a full peace deal, and it’s done.’ I think that’s the best way to end the war.”
Rubio said in the past that the U.S. had pushed for a ceasefire, but Russia has never agreed to one.