Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced today that he will meet with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday. They will discuss the results of Trump’s Friday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and the ceasefire in Ukraine. Zelenskyy also supported Trump’s proposal for a trilateral meeting with Putin and stressed the importance of Europe’s participation in negotiations.
In a X post, Zelenskyy described a “long and substantive conversation” with Trump, beginning with one-on-one talks before European leaders joined the call. According to Kyiv, the discussion lasted more than ninety minutes, with about an hour spent in bilateral talks. Zelenskyy reiterated Ukraine’s readiness to work “with maximum effort to achieve peace” and welcomed Trump’s proposal for a trilateral meeting with Russia, stressing that “key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders.”
Looking ahead, President Zelenskyy announced he will meet Trump in Washington on Monday “to discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war.” He underlined the importance of European involvement “at every stage to ensure reliable security guarantees together with America” and noted “positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine’s security.”
The post follows Friday’s meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
Trump speaks of “great progress”
During a press conference that followed the meeting, Trump and Putin described the talks as constructive and productive, but no agreement on a ceasefire in Ukraine was announced. Although Trump later hinted at the possibility of a Putin-Trump-Zelenskyy meeting in an interview with Fox News, according to the Kremlin, no such format has been discussed yet.
“I hope that the understanding we have reached will pave the way for peace in Ukraine,” Putin said at the summit, which was supposed to be a key starting point for ending the war in Ukraine.
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At the same time, he warned that for a long-term settlement, it is necessary to eliminate all causes of the crisis and respect Russia’s security concerns.
Donald Trump described the meeting as extremely productive and spoke of “great progress.” However, he did not reveal any details. According to him, the most important agreement is still missing, but he remained optimistic.
“There were many points on which we agreed. On a few important ones, we did not quite agree, but we made progress,” Trump said. According to the BBC, however, the talks yielded few concrete results, and Trump likely left Alaska “empty-handed.”
Strong reaction from Kyiv
The Ukrainian website Kyiv Independent described the meeting as “repulsive, shameful, and unnecessary.” According to an editorial comment, Trump did not get what he wanted, while Putin is returning as the winner. The website recalled that before the meeting, Trump had declared that he wanted “a ceasefire today” and that Putin would “face serious consequences” if he did not agree to it.
“While Trump’s predecessor (Joe Biden) called Putin a killer, Trump gave him a royal welcome,” it added. Trump’s friendly welcome of Putin as an equal, according to the website, stood in sharp contrast to the cold reception given to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office six months ago. “The Ukrainian president had to endure public humiliation. The Russian president was pampered. Both were shameful,” the website writes.
The reason why no ceasefire agreement was reached, according to the website, is Trump’s belief that he can soften Putin. However, according to the Ukrainian website, Putin does not approach the issue of Ukraine in a “quid pro quo” spirit, but rather in a messianic way. “He wants Ukraine for Russia. Period,” it added.
Who really won on Friday?
According to commentators, the summit primarily showed the different approaches of the two presidents:
Putin presented himself as a confident player who gained more time and political points. Trump is leaving without any concrete achievements, even though he called the summit “productive.”
The Kyiv Independent summed it up clearly: “Putin returns with a victory. Not a crushing one, but a victory nonetheless.”
