KYIV: U.S. President Donald Trump told Ukraine to give up hopes of getting back annexed Crimea or joining NATO as he prepared to host President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European leaders in Washington on Monday to press Kyiv into accepting a peace deal with Russia.
After rolling out the red carpet for Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Trump is leaning on Ukraine to accept a deal to end Europe's deadliest war in 80 years, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.
Trump will meet first Zelenskiy and then the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, the European Union and NATO, the White House said. The European leaders are flying to Washington to show solidarity with Ukraine and to press for strong security guarantees in any post-war settlement.
Trump’s team stressed on Sunday that there had to be compromises on both sides. But Trump put the burden on Zelenskiy to end the war that Russia began with its full-scale invasion in February 2022. That, along with his comments on NATO and Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014 during Barack Obama’s presidency, suggested he would press Zelenskiy hard at Monday’s meeting. Zelenskiy “can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,“ Trump said on Truth Social. “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.”
Ukraine and its allies have long feared that Trump could press an agreement favourable to Moscow. However they have taken heart from some developments, including Trump's apparent willingness to provide post-settlement security guarantees for Ukraine.
However, Zelenskiy has already all but rejected the outline of Putin's proposals from the Alaska meeting, including for Ukraine to give up the rest of its eastern Donetsk region, of which it currently controls a quarter.
Zelenskiy is also seeking an immediate ceasefire to conduct deeper peace talks. Trump previously backed that but reversed course after the summit with Putin and indicated support for Russia's favoured approach of negotiating a comprehensive deal while fighting rumbles on.
Trump will meet first with Zelenskiy at 1:15 p.m. EDT (1715 GMT) in the Oval Office and then with all the European leaders together in the White House's East Room at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT), the White House said.
The Ukrainian president, seeking to avoid a repeat of the bad-tempered Oval Office meeting he had with Trump in February, said after arriving in Washington late on Sunday he was grateful to Trump for the invitation.
“We all equally want to end this war swiftly and reliably,“ Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app. “Russia must end this war — the war it started. And I hope that our shared strength with America and with our European friends will compel Russia to real peace.”
Russia launched missiles and drones in overnight attacks that included strikes on Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv, near the Russian border, which killed seven people, including two children, officials said.
“They hit an ordinary apartment block, many flats, many families were living here, small children, children’s playground, residential compound, there are no offices here or anything else, we lived here peacefully in our homes,“ said Olena Yakusheva, a local resident, as firefighters battled a blaze in the building and rescue workers dug in the rubble.
On the battlefield Russia has been slowly grinding forward, pressing home its advantages in men and firepower. Putin says he is ready to continue fighting until his military objectives are achieved.
Russian peace proposal
The outline of Putin's proposals, reported by Reuters earlier, appears impossible for Zelenskiy to accept. Ukrainian forces are deeply dug into the Donetsk region, whose towns and hills serve as a crucial defensive zone to stymie Russian attacks.
Concerned that they would be shut out of the conversation after a summit with Putin to which they were not invited, European leaders held a call with Zelenskiy on Sunday to align on a common strategy for the meetings with Trump.
“It’s important for the Europeans to be there: (Trump) respects them, he behaves differently in their presence,“ Oleksandr Merezhko, a Ukrainian lawmaker from Zelenskiy’s ruling party, told Reuters.
“D-Day at the White House” said Britain’s Daily Mail, while the Daily Mirror said “Europe takes a stand” in its front page headline. Germany’s Die Welt called it the “moment of truth” for the U.S. president.
“It is probably not an exaggeration to say the whole world is looking to Washington,“ Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said at a press briefing.
Relations between Kyiv and Washington, once extremely close, have been rocky since Trump returned to the White House in January.
However, Ukraine's pressing need for U.S. weapons and intelligence sharing, some of which have no viable alternative, has forced Zelenskiy and his allies to work with Trump - REUTERS
