Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Washington to meet with US President Donald Trump for talks aimed at ending the war with Russia. This comes on the heels of Trump’s meeting on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin who insists on Ukraine giving up territory as part of a deal.
"We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably," Zelensky wrote on X after arriving in Washington.
"Russia must end this war that it started. I hope that our joint strength with the US and our European allies will force Russia to make real peace."
"Russia should not be rewarded for its participation in this war.... And it is Moscow that must hear the word: Stop," Zelensky said in a Facebook post early Monday.
The Ukrainian leader said he will discuss securing Western security guarantees for Ukraine during a meeting Monday with President Donald Trump and top European leaders.
"We will have time to speak about the architecture of security guarantees. This is, really, the most important," Zelensky said after speaking with Trump's special envoy on Ukraine, Keith Kellogg.
Macron says Russia does not want peace, stresses security for Ukraine
The meeting will be attended by Vice President JD Vance, before a larger gathering attended by Nato Chief Mark Rutte and European leaders, including Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron and the leaders of Britain, Finland, Germany and Italy.
Ahead of the White House meetings, the EU leaders and Zelensky will hold a preparatory meeting, according to the European Commission.
European leaders are concerned that Trump will pressure Ukraine to accept Russia’s terms, which include giving up Crimea and withdrawing from two eastern regions.
Trump, who dropped his insistence on a ceasefire in favour of a final peace deal after meeting Putin, said Sunday that Zelensky could end the war "almost immediately, if he wants to" but that, for Ukraine, there was "no getting back" Crimea and "NO GOING INTO NATO."
Quest for lasting peace
Zelensky, who has repeatedly rejected any territorial concessions, said that any peace deal must avoid setting up a situation where Russia might again invade Ukraine, referring to Russia’s taking of Crimea and parts of the Donbas region in 2014, before its full invasion in 2022.
"Peace must be lasting," Zelensky wrote. "Not like it was years ago, when Ukraine was forced to give up Crimea and part of our East – part of Donbas – and Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack. Or when Ukraine was given so called “security guarantees” in 1994, but they didn’t work."
When Zelensky last went to Washington, Trump shouted at him, accusing him of not being "thankful" and slamming his refusal to accept truce terms that would involve compromises with Russia.
Trump-Putin summit ends without Ukraine deal
Zelensky has said he is ready to join a trilateral summit with Trump and Putin – a possible meeting evoked by Trump, but which Russia has downplayed.
Meanwhile, Russia kept up its attacks on Ukraine ahead of the new talks, firing at least 140 drones and four ballistic missiles at the country between late Sunday and early Monday, the Ukrainian air force said.
A Russian drone attack on a five-storey apartment block in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv just before dawn killed at least seven people, including a one-and-a-half year old girl, authorities said.
Zelensky called the strikes an attempt to "humiliate diplomatic efforts."
(with newswires)
