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.

Read more:
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Trump has taken peace talks a distance not seen since the war began

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.

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.

Read more:
Five key takeaways from the White House Ukraine summit
Trump has taken peace talks a distance not seen since the war began

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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.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he’s ready to meet with Vladimir Putin after Donald Trump said the Russian president had agreed to let Ukraine have security guarantees from its allies.

A meeting between the two men could happen before the end of the month, followed by a trilateral summit which includes their US counterpart.

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It comes after Mr Trump hosted the Ukrainian president and a host of other European leaders at the White House on Monday, just days after he met Mr Putin in Alaska last week.

Among those in attendance were Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Germany’s Friedrich Merz, Finland’s Alexander Stubb, as well as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.

Mr Trump said Mr Putin “agreed that Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine”.

He added: “I think that the European nations are going to take a lot of the burden. We’re going to help them, and we’re going to make it very secure.”

‘Article-Five-like’

The mention of US involvement in security guarantees was welcomed by the European leaders.

Ms Von der Leyen said it was “good to hear” the nations were working on “Article Five-like security guarantees”.

NATO’s Article Five is the principle that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all of them.

Sir Keir said the guarantees would help ensure a “lasting deal”, and one for which there would be consequences if Russia breached it.

Mr Macron said it was not just about Ukraine, but “the whole security of the European continent”.

He added that one guarantee he would want to come out of any deals is that Ukraine should be able to have a “credible” army for “the years and decades to come”.

But there remained signs of some strain between Mr Trump and Europe. His belief that a ceasefire isn’t required to strike a peace deal was challenged Mr Merz, who said he “can’t imagine” a Zelenskyy-Putin meeting taking place without one.

Sky News understands that European leaders and Mr Zelenskyy will stay in Washington for now to continue talks.

The talks including the European leaders came after a Trump-Zelenskyy summit in the Oval Office. It was their first since their infamous sparring match back in February, but this time was far more cordial.

Mr Zelenskyy was complimented on his suit and evoked a few hearty laughs from Mr Trump, who said the US would provide “very good protection” for Ukraine.

Read more: Zelenskyy learned his lesson from last time

Mr Trump revealed during the Oval Office talks that he would have a call with Mr Putin later in the day. He broke up his talks with the Europeans to do so, before returning to update them on what they had discussed.

A Kremlin official, Kirill Dmitriev, later hailed the talks as an “important day for democracy”, but didn’t comment on the issue of security guarantees or possible changes of territory.

At the Alaska summit last Friday, Mr Putin has reportedly made demands to take control of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine as a condition for ending the war.

In exchange, Russia would give up other Ukrainian territories held by its troops, according to several news reports citing sources close to the matter.

Russian troops currently occupy large parts of the two regions and, in September 2022, Moscow announced it was officially annexing them, alongside the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, in a move rejected and condemned as illegal by the West.

Read more: Putin’s demands would be bitter blow to Ukraine

Trump talks up possible land swaps

Mr Trump is said to be planning to urge Mr Zelenskyy to agree to the conditions as part of a peace deal to end the war – despite the Ukrainian president previously ruling out handing any territory to Moscow.

“We also need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory,” the US president said ahead of the multilateral talks with Mr Zelenskyy and European leaders.

He said such exchanges would need to take “into consideration the current line of contact”.

He added: “That means the war zone, the war lines that are now, pretty obvious, very sad, actually, to look at them and negotiating positions.”

What happens next?

Mr Zelenskyy and Germany’s Mr Merz both suggested a Zelenskyy-Putin summit could take place within two weeks.

A location has not yet been determined.

A meeting that includes Mr Trump would likely follow in the weeks after.