President Trump met with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and European leaders at the White House on Monday, in a cordial but inconclusive push to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Much of the meeting focused on what security guarantees the European nations and the United States would provide Ukraine if Mr. Zelensky agreed to a deal to end the fighting. Mr. Trump also spoke to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to begin setting up a possible direct meeting between Mr. Zelensky and the Russian leader, though it was not clear when or even whether such a session would come about.
Here are five takeaways from the meeting.
The leaders presented a relatively united front.
Three days after Mr. Trump gave Mr. Putin a literal red carpet welcome at their meeting in Alaska and abandoned several key positions he had staked out beforehand, he presided over a discussion with America’s traditional allies in which the participants largely emphasized common ground.
Some differences broke through. Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany argued for a cease-fire to be put in place before further negotiations with Russia, but was gently rebuffed by Mr. Trump. And President Emmanuel Macron of France suggested he was skeptical that Mr. Putin was dealing in good faith. “I am not convinced that President Putin also wants peace,” he told reporters at a news conference.
But there were no blowups of the sort that ended a previous visit by Mr. Zelensky to the White House. All the participants appeared to agree with a plan to arrange direct talks between Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Putin even while other issues still needed to be worked out, such as the precise nature of the security guarantees for Ukraine and what if any territory Ukraine might be willing to cede.
Trump spoke only in vague terms about security guarantees for Ukraine.
Mr. Trump said on social media that the meetings were fruitful and that the leaders discussed “security guarantees for Ukraine, which Guarantees would be provided by the various European countries, with a coordination with the United States.”
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The post 5 Takeaways From Trump’s Meeting With Zelensky and European Leaders appeared first on New York Times.
