President Volodymyr Zelensky, the US President Donald Trump and seven European leaders met at the White House on August 18. This is the largest number of world leaders ever to be present in an American presidential administration at the same time. They discussed security guarantees for Ukraine and trilateral talks between the presidents of the United States, Ukraine and Russia.
First, Trump and Zelensky held a bilateral meeting with delegations. Then, multilateral negotiations took place.
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Among the European leaders were:
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen;
- NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte;
- French President Emmanuel Macron;
- President of Finland Alexander Stubb;
- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz;
- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni;
- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Trump promoted the idea of concluding a full peace agreement immediately, rather than a ceasefire. He appealed to the fact that in six months of his second term he had already “ended six wars in this way”.
French President Macron, German Chancellor Merz, and British Prime Minister Starmer emphasized that a ceasefire must first be reached, and only then a peace agreement.
Macron raised the issue of pan-European security and proposed holding a quadrilateral meeting after the trilateral meeting, adding Europeans.
Security guarantees for Ukraine
The talks focused on the issue of guarantees for Ukrainian security. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the parties would begin by considering guarantees similar to those in Article 5 of the NATO charter. After the meeting, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the parties discussed what guarantees “would be provided by various European countries under US coordination”.
Trump once again reiterated that Ukraine would not be admitted to NATO, but promised that "we will provide them with very good security guarantees".
When asked about the possibility of sending American troops to Ukraine, he replied: "We will let you know about that, maybe later today... We will be involved."
When asked if the US would commit to providing Ukraine with protection similar to NATO guarantees, Trump replied:
"I donʼt know if you can define it that way, but something like NATO... We have people waiting in another room right now. Theyʼre all from Europe, the most important figures in Europe, and they want to provide protection, they feel it very strongly. And weʼll help them do that."
"The US is making clear signals that it will be among the countries that will help coordinate, and will also be participants in security guarantees for Ukraine," Zelensky said at a briefing after the talks.
The Financial Times, citing a confidential document that Ukraine handed over to the United States, writes that Ukraine is offering to purchase $100 billion in American weapons in order to receive security guarantees from the United States.
The deal will be financed by European countries. Kyiv and Washington will also sign a $50 billion deal for the production of drones by Ukrainian companies. The document does not specify what weapons Ukraine wants to purchase under the deal, but Kyiv has clearly stated its desire to purchase at least 10 Patriot air defense systems.
At the briefing, Zelensky reported a package of Ukrainian proposals for the purchase of American weapons worth $90 billion — they should become part of security guarantees.
According to him, the issues of security guarantees will be formalized on paper in 7-10 days.
Trilateral meeting
At the end of the talks, the American president called Putin. After the conversation, he wrote in Truth Social that he had begun preparations for a trilateral meeting with Zelensky and Putin. He tasked the Vice President J.D. Vance, the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the Special Representative Steve Witkoff with coordinating the meeting.
Zelensky stated at a briefing that Russia proposed to hold a bilateral Ukraine-Russia meeting first, and then a trilateral one.
Ukraine continues to insist on holding the meeting without preconditions.
German Chancellor Merz said Trump had arranged for a meeting between Zelensky and Putin within the next two weeks. He added that he did not know “whether Putin would have the courage” to attend such a summit.
Requirements of Ukraine
The Financial Times, citing a confidential document that Ukraine handed over to the United States, writes that Ukraine rejects Russiaʼs territorial concessions and withdrawal of troops from Donbas.
Among Ukraineʼs demands:
- Ukraine rejects an agreement that would include recognition of territorial concessions.
- Ukraine rejects Putinʼs proposal to “freeze” the front line if Ukraine fully transfers Donetsk and Luhansk regions to Russian control — this is seen as an opportunity for Russia to create a bridgehead to advance to the city of Dnipro.
- A ceasefire should be the first step towards a full peace agreement.
- Ukraine insists on full compensation for the losses caused by Russiaʼs aggression, which could potentially be paid for from $300 billion in frozen Russian assets.
- Any sanctions relief should only be granted on the condition that Russia abides by the future peace agreement and “plays fair game”.
At a briefing after the talks, Zelensky said:
"We will leave the issue of territories between me and Putin.”
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