In a diplomatic breakthrough at the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to allow Ukraine to receive security guarantees from its allies. While the United States will play a role, Trump emphasized that European nations will be expected to “take a lot of the burden.”
The announcement followed a series of high-level meetings, including a one-on-one summit between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and a larger gathering that included key European leaders. Attendees at the White House on Monday included UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The talks builds on a recent meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska last week. According to Trump, during that summit, Putin “agreed that Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine.”
“I think that the European nations are going to take a lot of the burden. We’re going to help them, and we’re going to make it very secure,” Trump said.
The prospect of U.S. involvement in security guarantees was well-received by European leaders. European Commission President von der Leyen stated it was “good to hear” that nations were working on “Article Five-like security guarantees,” referencing the NATO principle that an attack on one member is an attack on all. Sir Keir Starmer said the guarantees would help ensure a “lasting deal,” while Macron added that the issue was about the “whole security of the European continent.”
Macron also stressed that any deal should allow Ukraine to have a “credible” army for “the years and decades to come.”
Despite the broad consensus on security guarantees, a point of friction emerged. Trump’s belief that a ceasefire is not required to strike a peace deal was challenged by German Chancellor Merz, who stated he “can’t imagine” a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin taking place without one.
Following a cordial one-on-one meeting in the Oval Office, Trump and Zelenskyy were later joined by the European leaders. Trump revealed that he would have a follow-up call with Putin later in the day, temporarily leaving his talks with the European leaders to do so before returning to brief them.
Kremlin official Kirill Dmitriev hailed the discussions as an “important day for diplomacy” but did not comment on the details of the security guarantees or potential territorial changes.
Reports from the Alaska summit indicate that Putin has demanded control of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine in exchange for an end to the war. These regions, along with Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, were formally annexed by Russia in September 2022 in a move widely condemned as illegal by the West.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has expressed his readiness to meet with Putin, and a meeting between the two leaders could potentially take place before the end of the month, followed by a trilateral summit that would include President Trump. European leaders are reportedly remaining in Washington for continued talks.
