Putin and Zelensky meeting by August: Trump guarantees end to war in Ukraine but no ceasefire
The summit at the White House
Little information has been released from the series of meetings in Washington on the conflict, which continues unabated. Macron wants a bilateral meeting in Geneva, while Meloni opposes sending troops to the field.
It's not yet a certainty, but at least a prospect: more than three years after the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine , triggered by the invasion of Moscow in February 2022, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky could meet for the first time bilaterally by August. This hasn't happened since 2019. This is the most substantial news to emerge from the highly anticipated series of meetings at the White House in Washington between US President Donald Trump and several European and Western leaders, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni .
"During the meeting, we discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, which would be provided by various European countries, in coordination with the United States of America. Everyone is very pleased with the possibility of peace between Russia and Ukraine," Trump wrote on his social media account, Truth. Axios reported that the meeting could take place by the end of August. The meetings were held after the historic mid-August summit in Anchorage , Alaska, between Trump and Putin. No truce emerged on the ground at that time, and no ceasefire was announced between yesterday and today. Indeed, the war continues on the ground, with Russia's offensive on Ukrainian cities.
Trump said he did not believe a ceasefire on the ground was necessary at this time, but stated that a direct peace agreement between Moscow and Kiev was possible. Ukraine is demanding "security guarantees " to prevent possible future Russian attacks, a possibility that has invoked Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which mandates the intervention of all member states in the event of external aggression. European leaders have described the ceasefire as a key step and condition for proceeding with peace negotiations. They are divided over the possibility of sending troops to the ground in Ukraine. Italy is opposed to it.
Trump reportedly already spoke with Putin yesterday evening, after meetings with Zelensky and the main European leaders. "After that meeting, we will have a trilateral meeting , which will be between the two presidents (Putin and Zelensky) and me," the White House resident wrote on Social Truth, calling yesterday's and upcoming meetings "a very positive first step in a war that has been going on for almost four years. Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff are coordinating operations with Russia and Ukraine." He assured that the war will end; he doesn't know when, but it will end.
Zelensky, welcomed into the Oval Office after the disastrous meeting at the end of February, expressed openness to the possibility of a bilateral meeting. No comment from the Kremlin. According to French President Emmanuel Macron, the bilateral meeting should take place in Europe, in Geneva, Switzerland, as the desired venue for the talks. "More than a hypothesis, it's actually the collective will," he declared in an interview broadcast on LCI . "It will be in a neutral country, so perhaps Switzerland —I ask Geneva —or another country. The last time there were bilateral talks, it was in Istanbul."
In addition to Meloni and Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz , British Prime Minister Keir Starmer , Finnish President Alexander Stubb , European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen , and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also arrived in Washington. A meeting between Putin and Zelensky would be a notable success for Trump, who, during his campaign for re-election in the 2024 presidential election, had guaranteed an end to the conflict within 100 days of his second term.
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