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As they emerged from talks in the White House, European leaders expressed guarded optimism that US President Donald Trump could be finding momentum in his quest to fulfil his campaign promise of ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The leaders of France, Germany, Finland, Italy and the UK, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO chief Mark Rutte showed a united front in the talks with Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said after the meeting that there was “real progress” and a “real sense of unity.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said all the parties were working together on “a lasting and durable peace.”
Praise mixed with caution
While they heaped praise on Trump for committing to security guarantees for Ukraine, they also suggested forging a temporary ceasefire is not off the table.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said “the path is open now” to halting the fighting but next steps are “more complicated.”
“I don’t want to hide the fact that I wasn’t sure it would go this way — it could have gone differently,” he said. “But my expectations were not just met, they were exceeded.”
“Let’s try to put pressure on Russia,” Merz said, adding that he would like to see a ceasefire come together.
Trump was noncommittal, saying, “If we can do the ceasefire, great,” but suggested it was far from a dealbreaker.
Following his meeting with Putin on Friday, Trump dropped his demand for an immediate ceasefire and said he would look to secure a final peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine — a sudden shift to a position favoured by Putin.
Support for trilateral meeting
The “most important” outcome of the meeting was the “US commitment to work with us on providing security guarantees” to Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron said.
Macron told reporters that the participants of Monday’s talks are willing to set up a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy “in the coming days” and the trilateral meeting including Trump “by two to three weeks.”
He added that he has “the greatest doubt” about Putin’s will to stop the war.
Merz said that such a meeting “must, like all meetings, be well-prepared; we will do this with President Zelenskyy.” He said he doesn’t currently know what the meeting could produce.
He stressed that the Europeans and Americans will need to discuss who participates in the security guarantees and to what extent. “It’s completely clear that the whole of Europe should participate,” he said.
“This is not just about the territory of Ukraine,” he added. “It’s about the political order of Europe.”
Asked about the possibility of German peacekeeping troops, he said it was too early to give a final answer.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said membership is not on the table, but the US and European leaders are discussing “Article 5 kind of security guarantees for Ukraine.”
Article 5 of the NATO treaty says an attack on one member nation is an attack on all members, the heart of the transatlantic defence pact.
Details around US involvement in Ukraine “will be discussed over the coming days,” which will give Zelenskyy the clarity he needs to decide whether Ukrainians can remain safe following a peace deal.
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