Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Washington, D.C., for high-stakes peace talks aimed at charting a path to end the war with Russia, even as U.S. President Donald Trump ruled out Ukraine’s entry into NATO and dismissed any chance of reversing Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Zelensky, who has consistently rejected giving up Ukrainian territory, will meet Trump on Monday at the White House. He is joined by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and leaders from France, Germany, Italy, Finland, and the United Kingdom.
The talks follow Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week. That summit did not produce a ceasefire, but both leaders pledged to provide “robust security guarantees” to Ukraine. Still, Trump appeared to side with Moscow’s longstanding red lines.
“President Zelensky of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, insisting that Crimea “is not coming back” and that NATO membership “will not happen.”
Zelensky, excluded from the Alaska summit, expressed cautious optimism after arriving in Washington. “We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably,” he said late Sunday.
