Donald Trump says Volodymyr Zelenskyy ‘could end war with Russia’ if he wanted to – ahead of crucial White House meeting

Published

1 day ago

August 18, 2025

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy could “end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to”, Donald Trump has said – ahead of crucial White House talks on the future of Ukraine.

Mr Trump made the comment in a series of social media posts throwing forward to his meeting with the Ukrainian president, who will be supported by Sir Keir Starmer and other European leaders.

The allies are travelling to Washington DC with the aim of protecting Ukraine from having to concede key regions to Russia in exchange for peace, following the US president’s high-profile meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.

They will also be keen to avoid a repeat of Mr Zelenskyy‘s last heated visit to the White House in February, which ended with the Ukrainian leader leaving early and later resulted in US aid to Ukraine being temporarily halted.

“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Mr Trump shared on his own network, Truth Social, on Sunday. “Remember how it started,” he added, before highlighting the annexation of Crimea.

Describing today as a “big day” at the White House, he added: “Never had so many European Leaders at one time. My great honor to host them!!!.”

Sir Keir and six other political heavyweights will present a united front alongside Mr Zelenskyy, who is expecting to face calls to surrender full control of Donetsk and Luhansk – two mineral-rich regions where large areas are currently occupied by Russian troops.

In September 2022, Moscow announced it was officially annexing them, alongside the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, in a move rejected and condemned as illegal by the West.

Mr Putin would reportedly give up other territories held by his troops in exchange and agree to a “NATO-like” security guarantee preventing Ukraine from further incursion.

At today’s Oval Office encounter, Mr Zelenskyy will be joined by France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Alexander Stubb, president of Finland, as well as head of NATO Mark Rutte and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, and Sir Keir.

They are set to arrive at midday (5pm UK time). Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy will hold a bilateral meeting first, before a multilateral meeting with the rest of the European leaders.

In a message on X on Sunday, before Mr Trump’s posts, the Ukrainian president said strong unity from Europe was “essential” to achieve an end to the war, and that it was “impossible” for Ukraine to “give up or trade land”.

He said a ceasefire was necessary for a deal to be worked on, writing: “We have to stop the killings. Putin has many demands but we do not know all of them.

“If there are really as many as we heard, then it will take time to go through them all. It is impossible to do this under the pressure of weapons.”

What is the ‘NATO-like’ security guarantee?

Following the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, the two leaders said they had agreed on some points but did not elaborate further.

Speaking to CNN on Sunday, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said: “We were able to win the following concession: that the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO.”

Article 5 is a core principle of the 32-member collective, which states that an armed attack against one or more of its members shall be considered an attack against all. It has only been invoked once, by the US, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

Russia has repeatedly insisted that Ukraine cannot be allowed to join NATO and has dismissed the idea that NATO member forces could be peacekeepers under some sort of ceasefire deal.

Mr Witkoff, who has held previous discussions with Mr Putin on ending the war, said Friday’s summit was the first time he had heard the Russian leader agree to the suggestion of NATO-like protection – and called it “game-changing”.

Analysis and explainers:
Alliance against Putin has never been so threatened
How a chaotic 24 hours unfolded ahead of talks
Why Zelenskyy is taking a posse of leaders for talks

In a post on X, Russian envoy Mikhail Ulyanov said Russia agrees a future peace agreement “should provide reliable security assurances or guarantees for Ukraine”.

But Moscow should also get efficient security guarantees, he added. “What the West has to offer? Apparently they haven’t yet started to think about it. It is a mistake, which needs to be corrected.”

He also said efforts now should focus on the “main goal – the need to elaborate quickly an efficient long-term peace accord, not a questionable ceasefire which diverts attention”.

No talk of ceasefire after summit

Despite prior threats of severe sanctions for Russia should a ceasefire not be agreed during the talks in Alaska, there was no mention of this from Mr Trump afterwards. Instead, he said he wanted to focus on a long-term deal for peace.

Mr Putin has long refused to agree to a ceasefire as a precondition for talks to end the war, prompting fears that Russia could continue gaining ground in Ukraine as negotiations take place.

At a news conference on Sunday, Ms von der Leyen said the aim was to “stop the killing”, and suggested a ceasefire and a peace deal would have that same impact.

Mr Trump has previously said today’s meeting with Mr Zelenskyy could potentially pave the way for a three-way meeting with Mr Putin.

US

Putin wasn’t at the White House, but his influence was – the moments which reveal his hold over Trump

Published

4 mins ago

August 19, 2025

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Putin wasn't at the White House, but his influence was - the moments which reveal his hold over Trump

Vladimir Putin wasn’t at the White House but his influence clearly was. At times, it dominated the room.

There were three key moments that revealed the Russian president‘s current hold over Donald Trump.

The first was in the Oval Office. Sitting alongside Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the US president told reporters: “I don’t think you need a ceasefire.”

Ukraine talks latest: Zelenskyy ‘ready to meet’ Putin after Trump summit

It was a stunning illustration of Mr Trump’s about-face in his approach to peace. For the past six months, a ceasefire has been his priority, but after meeting Mr Putin in Alaska, suddenly it’s not.

Confirmation that he now views the war through Moscow’s eyes.

The second was the format itself, with Mr Trump reverting to his favoured ask-what-you-like open-ended Q&A.

In Alaska, Mr Putin wasn’t made to take any questions – most likely, because he didn’t want to. But here, Mr Zelenskyy didn’t have a choice. He was subjected to a barrage of them to see if he’d learnt his lesson from last time.

It was a further demonstration of the special status Mr Trump seems to afford to Mr Putin.

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The third was their phone call. Initially, President Trump said he’d speak to the Kremlin leader after his meeting with European leaders. But it turned out to be during it.

A face-to-face meeting with seven leaders was interrupted for a phone call with one – as if Mr Trump had to check first with Mr Putin, before continuing his discussions.

We still don’t know the full details of the peace proposal that’s being drawn up, but all this strongly suggests that it’s one sketched out by Russia. The White House is providing the paper, but the Kremlin is holding the pen.

For Moscow, the aim now is to keep Mr Trump on their path to peace, which is settlement first, ceasefire later.

It believes that’s the best way of securing its goals, because it has more leverage so long as the fighting continues.

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But Mr Putin will be wary that Mr Trump is pliable and can easily change his mind, depending on the last person he spoke to.

So to ensure that his sympathies aren’t swayed, and its red lines remain intact, Russia will be straining to keep its voice heard.

On Monday, for example, the Russian foreign ministry was quick to condemn recent comments from the UK government that it would be ready to send troops to help enforce any ceasefire.

It described the idea as “provocative” and “predatory”.

Moscow is trying to drown out European concerns by portraying itself as the party that wants peace the most, and Kyiv (and Europe) as the obstacle.

But while Mr Zelenskyy has agreed to a trilateral meeting, the Kremlin has not. After the phone call between Mr Putin and Mr Trump, it said the leaders discussed “raising the level of representatives” in the talks between Russia and Ukraine. No confirmation to what level.

US

Trump brokers Putin and Zelenskyy meeting

Published

4 mins ago

August 19, 2025

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Trump brokers Putin and Zelenskyy meeting

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Donald Trump wants to set up a face-to-face meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. How would that work? And would it accelerate peace in Ukraine?

Zelenskyy and other European leaders made their way to Washington DC. What was their goal? To make sure Trump is still on their side – and to make sure he’s not got too close to Putin and his plans to annex parts of Ukraine after the pair met in Alaska.

How much of a turning point was the White House summit in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?

If you’ve got a question you’d like the Trump100 team to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.

You can also watch all episodes – including the interview with Tim – on our YouTube channel.

US

We are further away from peace now than we were two weeks ago

Published

2 hours ago

August 19, 2025

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It’s always wise to let the dust settle before reaching conclusions with this presidency.

But on the face of it we are further away from peace now than we were two weeks ago.

The consensus that was held back then was that Vladimir Putin would only relent under maximum pressure. He does not want slivers of territory. He wants the whole of Ukraine extinguished and absorbed into his greater Russia.

Ukraine talks latest: Trump sets up Zelenskyy-Putin meeting

To stop him, allies agreed an immediate ceasefire was necessary, along with much more painful pressure, namely sanctions hitting his oil industry. Europeans and Republicans in Congress agree on that.

Then Alaska and Donald Trump’s U-turn. No ceasefire and no more severe sanctions. So less pressure.

Yesterday’s reality TV diplomatic circus in Washington has not shifted him on that stance, so he stays it seems now aligned with Mr Putin on those crucial points.

Making matters worse for Ukraine, allies seem to be accepting it will have to give up land taken by force.

They sweeten the pill by saying of course only Ukraine can decide whether or not to cede territory, but there is now enormous pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to do so.

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In return there is nebulous and vague talk of security guarantees. European leaders are seizing on the fact Mr Trump did not rule out American troops being involved and hinted at US support for post-war security arrangements.

But that is little consolation for Ukrainians. They point out this president changes his mind as often as his socks and goes back on commitments, even those enshrined in international treaties.

The best that can be said for the White House meeting is it sets up more such meetings.

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Much of yesterday’s events were focused on stroking President Trump’s ego. Many here in Kyiv would prefer he was reminded of a few hard facts about this war. Mr Putin cannot be trusted. Mr Putin wants the end of Ukraine. Mr Putin will only relent under maximum pressure.

Protracted international diplomacy may suit Mr Trump’s craving for attention, but they fear it will only take us further away from peace.