Reuters: At the meeting with Zelensky, Trump spoke about an immediate ceasefire, Zelensky — about security guarantees

President Volodymyr Zelensky used his first post-election meeting with President-elect Donald Trump to explain Ukraineʼs need for security guarantees in any negotiation process to end the war.

This was reported to the Reuters agency by sources.

French President Emmanuel Macron hosted a meeting in Paris. The three leaders, who spoke for 35 minutes without advisers, did not discuss specific details of any peace vision, but Trump reiterated that he wants an immediate ceasefire and talks to end the war quickly.

The meeting provided some early clues about how talks to end the war might progress, although the process, which will involve Russian leader Vladimir Putin, is fraught with difficulties and the role of the United States remains unclear.

Trump was friendly, respectful and open, and appeared willing to listen, one of the sources said.

"Some key points were mentioned during the meeting — for example, it was said that peace needs guarantees, because a ceasefire alone is not enough, Putin can violate it again, as he has done before, without adequate guarantees," said a source in the Office President of Ukraine.

When asked how it was received, the source said "he [Trump] is mulling over all the details”.

Several officials close to Trump have said he is focusing his meetings on building the personal relationships that are key to his diplomatic work, and that he will ultimately decide what to do next.

As Reuters writes, the friendly nature of Trumpʼs direct communication with Zelensky differs from some of the Republicanʼs public statements about the Ukrainian leader during the election campaign.

Macron and Zelensky were on the same page at the meeting in Paris, but were careful not to appear as if they were backing Trump into a corner, the agencyʼs source said.

Macron used the meeting to make the case that Europeans have already done much to support Ukraine and that they are also willing to share the security burden more evenly with the United States, two of the sources said.

Another official said Macron and Zelensky explained to Trump that Putin in 2024 is not the same Putin he was in 2017, when the US president-elect previously dealt with the Kremlin leader while in the White House.

The same official added that the precipitous fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the failure of his close ally Russia have also been used as an argument for a tougher stance towards Moscow in future peace efforts.

• Zelenskyʼs meeting with Trump and Macron took place on December 7 in Paris. Zelensky spoke of a "good and productive meeting".

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