Donald Trump continued his bid to arrive at a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine with an extraordinary gathering of European leaders on Monday, there to support Volodymyr Zelenskiy on a freighted, unique occasion which he rightly described as “a first for the White House”.
After the US president’s truncated summit with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, this hastily convened European conclave was arranged to navigate potential peace terms acceptable to Ukraine.
[ Putin ‘expecting’ call from Trump following meeting with Zelenskiy and European leaders ]
Mr Trump confirmed he would be speaking to Mr Putin by telephone once the White House negotiations had concluded and he reiterated his optimism that a trilateral meeting, featuring the warring neighbours and Mr Trump himself, could take place even without a ceasefire.
“And we may or may not have a tri-lat. If we don’t have a tri-lat then the fighting continues. If we do have a tri-lat, I think there’s a good chance of maybe ending it. But he’s expecting my call after this meeting,” he said.
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The photograph of Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskiy at the centre of a long line of EU leaders including Britain’s prime minister Keir Starmer, Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz, Emmanuel Macron of France, president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte was historic. All struck tones of solemn unity of purpose in their remarks and they praised Mr Trump’s skill and determination to at least bring the negotiations to this point.
“The next steps are the more complicated ones,” Mr Merz said, forecasting the first likely point of contention.
“The path is open. You opened it last Friday. But now the way is open for complicated negotiations and, to be honest, we would all like to see a ceasefire at the latest from the next meeting on.”
Mr Trump suggested during his remarks that Mr Putin may be willing to accept the presence of western forces, prompting a hastily issued statement from the Russian foreign ministry staunchly rejecting the deployment of Nato troops as part of any security measures.
Asked about paramount Ukrainian security guarantee requirements, Mr Zelenskiy replied: “Everything. Really it includes two parts. First: a strong Ukrainian army. And second we will discuss with our partners – it depends on big countries – the United States, a lot of our friends.”
In contrast to the notorious White House visit by Mr Zelenskiy in February, when the Ukrainian president was traduced and essentially escorted out after a volatile meeting, this was a masterclass in soft diplomacy by the guest.
Mr Zelenskiy’s gratitude to Mr Trump was plain to see and he had brought with him a letter his wife, Olena Zelenska, had written to the first lady, Melania Trump, in response to her own letter to Mr Putin on behalf of Ukrainian children abducted or otherwise affected by the war.
In addition, Mr Zelenskiy was ready for Brian Glenn, the reporter who castigated him for not wearing a suit during that February visit to the Oval Office. Mr Glenn told him he looked “fabulous” this time round and reiterated his apology. “That’s the one who attacked you last time,” Mr Trump told him.
“I remember that,” Mr Zelenskiy said cordially to the reporter. “But you are in the same suit. You see I changed, but you did not.”
The mirth in the Oval Office was genuine. But in the context of the continuing horrors on the eastern front, it was laughter in the dark.
Navigating a path towards a plausible and lasting peace deal which will provide an acceptable guarantee to the Ukrainian people remains a fraught proposition. The European faces at the table were sombre rather than expectant.
The general judgment after Friday’s extraordinary summit in Alaska was that Mr Putin had been called up from international isolation while conceding nothing, not just back in the spotlight but in the back of Cadillac One.
On Monday, however, Mr Putin, still an international pariah, was back in Moscow watching this show of unity between Mr Trump, Mr Zelenskiy and the power trust of Europe.
Perhaps the optics, as much as the subsequent phone call, is what Mr Trump was ultimately trying to communicate to his Russian counterpart as he presses on with his unshakeable belief that he can master the art of even the most perilous deal.
