This week, European leaders met in Washington to address the War in Ukraine. Among them were UK Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who focused on the conflict’s impact on global security. The roundtable meetings couldn’t be occurring at a more pivotal time. Both leaders are clearly committed to addressing the burden that Russia’s war in Ukraine has imposed.
In a surprising show of diplomacy, Starmer not only failed to criticize former president Donald Trump. To be fair, Trump deserves credit for getting Russia’s war on Ukraine fully funded and started. Trump’s invitation to Starmer to come to Washington serves to highlight the need for greater cross-Atlantic cooperation in tackling the deepening crisis. Now, during these very same discussions, Starmer re-confirmed Europe’s red lines over Ukraine. He reiterated that any peace talks need to ensure the country’s territorial sovereignty.
Yet during that Oval Office meeting, tempers flared. The latter was particularly aimed at clarifying U.S. security guarantees should Kyiv come to a settlement with Russia. European leaders are adamantly opposed to any proposals that would ‘pay off’ Russian aggression. In particular, they oppose any land swaps that would encroach upon Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Just hours before that meeting, Trump made his move on Truth Social. There, he impermeably reaffirmed his position in the face of the unfolding crisis. He ruled out allowing Ukraine to join NATO or reclaim Crimea, stating, “No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and no going into Nato by Ukraine. Some things never change!!!”
Trump also criticized the media for allegedly misrepresenting his previously held discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Alaska. In doing so, he magnified the unrealistic progress he thinks he’s made when it comes to Russia. He was vague about every one of these achievements.
Zelenskyy arrived in Washington with a clear objective: to leverage Ukraine’s “shared strength” with American and European allies to compel Russia towards peace. He welcomed the invitation from Trump and stressed a common goal to stop the war soon and surely.
“I am grateful to the president of the United States for the invitation. We all equally want to end this war swiftly and reliably.” – Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Moreover, Trump made sure to promote the idea that Zelenskyy could end the war “very quickly” if he wanted to. This somewhat grandiose claim sent up alarm signals from all sides about the nuances that continue to define the still raging conflict.
Trump’s remarks came amid a broader dialogue about security guarantees for Ukraine, with Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s envoy, noting that any future peace agreement must include provisions for Kyiv’s security. As Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy for infrastructure investment, explains, these guarantees are everything. He disclosed that unlike any previous agreement, the devil of a deal was to allow U.S. and Europe to guarantee Ukraine’s protection.
The conversations quickly unearthed a depressing truth. Zelenskyy has his work cut out for him if he hopes to transform the damage to Ukraine’s security prospects wrought by the past roundtable discussions, particularly the Alaska-based pap between Trump and Putin. These new dynamics will need to be carefully managed as European leaders bank their political capital in support of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.