What is the significance of European leaders at White House peace talks?
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Spectator
4 minutes ago
- Spectator
Donald Trump was on his best behaviour in his meeting with Zelensky
It was back to black for Volodymyr Zelensky. After the Trump White House asked whether he was going to wear a suit for his Oval Office meeting, the Ukrainian president showed up in a dark military-style jacket, pleasing his hosts to no end. Even Brian Glenn, boyfriend of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and reporter for Real America's Voice, who had dissed Zelensky in February, commended him on his habiliments, declaring 'you look fabulous in that suit.' Zelensky was pleased. So was Trump. In fact, Trump was on his best behaviour. After ranting earlier in the morning that he didn't need all the experts to tell him what to think and that Ukraine should essentially prostrate itself before Russia, he avoided any verbal fisticuffs with Zelensky or talk about exiting Nato. Instead, Trump breathed optimism about where the negotiations, which he hopes will secure him a coveted Nobel Peace Prize, were headed. 'I think it's going to be when, not if,' Trump said about a trilateral meeting between him, Putin and Zelensky. He may not have rolled out a red carpet for Zelensky when he arrived in Washington, as he did for Putin in Alaska, but he treated him with unwonted respect. According to Trump, 'I have a feeling you and president Putin are going to work something out. Ultimately, this is a decision that can only be made by president Zelensky and by the people of Ukraine working also together in agreement with president Putin. And I just think that very good things are going to come of it.' If the meeting with European leaders that took place later in the afternoon was anything to go by, Trump's eupeptic push for a peace deal is not meeting with overt resistance. Quite the contrary. Zelensky indicated that territorial concessions would be discussed should he meet Putin. It was clever of Zelensky to put the onus back on Putin rather than rejecting out-of-hand the prospect of land swaps. 'If we played this well, we could end this, and we have to end it,' Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte said. Indeed, he called Trump's offer of security guarantees for Ukraine a 'breakthrough.' What those guarantees would look like remains unclear. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who appears to have established a good working relationship with Trump, indicated that it was imperative to provide 'Article 5-like guarantees' to Ukraine. What this will amount to is an open question – Germany announced today that it was already overstretched with its stationing of a Bundeswehr brigade in Lithuania and that it is unlikely to put any boots on the ground in Ukraine. But the biggest obstacle to a peace deal, of course, is whether Putin even wants one. 'President Putin wants to find an answer, too,' Trump said. Does he? So far, as he launches fresh fusillades of missiles and drones at Ukraine, the Russian tyrant appears to believe that he has more to benefit from continuing rather than halting the war that he, and he alone, launched in February 2022. For all the bonhomie that existed between him and Trump in Alaska, it may be replaced by a more adversarial relationship in coming weeks should Putin maintain his obduracy about reaching an actual deal.
Reuters
5 minutes ago
- Reuters
TAKEAWAYS Well-mannered White House welcome for Ukraine leaves many questions
WASHINGTON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump gathered European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for a hastily arranged White House meeting on Monday to discuss a path to ending Russia's war in Ukraine. Here are takeaways from the talks: Seven European leaders, the Ukrainian president, their motorcades, dozens of Trump administration staff and more than 100 journalists swarmed the White House campus on Monday in anticipation of the unusual meeting. Would Trump and Zelenskiy agree on a path to peace? Or would their latest Oval Office session devolve into a bitter squabble as in February? Neither scenario occurred. Zelenskiy, chided for his appearance and manner in February, adjusted both. Wearing more formal clothing and repeatedly expressing his gratitude to Trump, he was greeted by a far more complimentary U.S. president than in the past. But, despite Trump's vow to assist in Ukraine's security after a hypothetical peace deal, there was no immediate sign that any party had substantially changed position on land swaps, security guarantees or sanctions. Instead, Trump ended with promises to host a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to address the many remaining issues. "Have you said 'thank you' once?" U.S. Vice President JD Vance asked Zelenskiy in February, accusing him of failing to show sufficient gratitude for U.S. support. On Monday, Zelenskiy made sure that was not an issue. His opening remarks in the Oval Office included eight thank-yous, mostly for Trump. "Thank you so much, Mr. President ... thank you for your attention. Thank you very much for your efforts, personal efforts to stop killings and stop this war. Thank you," Zelenskiy said. He included the U.S. first lady, who sent a letter to Putin about abducted children in Ukraine. "Using this opportunity, my thanks to your wife," the Ukrainian president said. "And thanks to all our partners and that you supported this format. And after our meeting, we're going to have leaders who are around us, the UK and France, Germany... all partners around Ukraine supporting us. Thanks (to) them. Thank you very much for your invitation." Unlike in February, Vance this time sat largely silent. The stakes of the meeting could not have been higher. But one of the most-asked questions among diplomats in D.C. could not have been more frivolous: Would the Ukrainian president wear a suit? The answer: kind of. Zelenskiy showed up to the White House in what one European diplomat described as "almost a suit." His black jacket had tiny lapels and jetted chest pockets. He did not wear a tie. His attire, which split the difference between the battlefield and the boardroom, could be described as combat formal. Those sartorial details matter when it comes to dealing with the U.S. president, who was upset that Zelenskiy did not wear a suit for their February meeting. Zelenskiy passed the fashion test this time, however. When one journalist in the Oval Office said Zelenskiy looked "fabulous," Trump chimed in to agree. "I said the same thing," Trump told reporters. The assembled European leaders, Zelenskiy included, were careful to paper over policy disagreements with Trump, keeping their comments vague and showering the U.S. president with compliments. But one point of disagreement did bubble to the surface. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told the assembled leaders and media that he wanted to see Putin agree to a ceasefire. Trump had long pushed for a ceasefire in Ukraine. But he largely jettisoned that goal after meeting with Putin last week in Alaska, a shift that was widely seen as a diplomatic defeat for Ukraine. The U.S. president now says he is fine trying to move directly to a peace deal. "To be honest, we all would like to see a ceasefire," Merz said. "I can't imagine that the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire, so let's work on that." Trump pushed back, arguing he has solved many conflicts without first reaching a ceasefire. One of the great mysteries that hung over the summit was what support the U.S. would give to secure any Russia-Ukraine deal long term. Trump hasn't offered U.S. troops' "boots on the ground" to guarantee Ukraine's security from Russia, reflecting American reticence to commit to military entanglements or a head-to-head confrontation with a nuclear power. Instead, he has offered weapons sales and promised that Americans will do business in Ukraine, assurances that Ukrainians see as far less than a security guarantee. Europeans are preparing for a peacekeeping mission backed by their forces. Yet, asked explicitly whether U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine could include U.S. troops in the country, Trump did not rule it out. Instead, he teased an announcement as soon as Monday on the topic. "We'll let you know that, maybe, later today," Trump said. He said Europe was the "first line of defense" but that "we'll be involved." Trump said he would call Putin and set up a trilateral meeting with Ukraine at a time and place to be determined. Despite some private misgivings, the assembled leaders agreed that such a meeting was a logical next step. Still, the path forward is more complex than Trump and his allies are letting on. For one, Russia has delayed and obstructed high-level meetings with Ukraine in the past, and it was not immediately clear that Putin would actually sit down with Zelenskiy, who he frequently describes as an illegitimate leader. Additionally, it is unclear how much a principal-level meeting would actually advance the cause of peace. The gulf between the Russian and Ukrainian positions is vast. The Kremlin said on Monday the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine is a non-starter, a stance that would be hard for Ukraine to swallow. Russia is also calling for Ukraine to fork over significant chunks of territory that Kyiv controls, another proposal that Ukraine's leaders are not entertaining.
Daily Mail
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trump admits Melania loves son Barron 'more than me' during sweet tribute to the first lady
President Donald Trump joked Monday that First Lady Melania Trump probably loved her son Barron Trump more than him, during a frank conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House. The president noted that Mrs. Trump 'felt very strongly' about the war, which prompted her to send a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin that was later published on social media. 'She's watched the same thing that you watch and I watch, I see things that you don't get to see. It's horrible. She has got a great love of children,' Trump said. Referring to their son, Barron Trump, the president joked, 'she has a wonderful son that she loves probably more than anybody including me.' 'I hate to say that but she loves her son, she loves children, she hates to see something like this happening.' Trump said that Mrs. Trump observed the heartbreak from parents of children and at the funerals in Ukraine. 'All these funerals, we want to see something other than funerals,' Trump said. The president said the first lady asked him to send a message from her ahead of his meeting with Zelensky and other European leaders. 'She would love to see it end. She says it very openly and very proudly and with great sorrow because so many people have been killed,' he added. Zelensky noted that Ukrainian children who were taken from Ukraine by the Russians need to be returned to their homes as part of the peace negotiations. European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen also shared her hopes that 'thousands' Ukrainian children would be returned to their families. 'As a mother and grandmother, every single child has to go back to its family. This should be one of our main priorities, to make sure that the children come back to Ukraine, to their families,' she said. The first lady's letter was revealed publicly after the president's meeting Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which she pleaded for him to move toward peace in the region for the sake of the children. 'Mr. Putin, you can singlehandedly restore their melodic laughter,' Mrs. Trump wrote. 'In protecting the innocence of these children, you will do more than serve Russia alone—you serve humanity itself.' Zelensky thanked Melania Trump for her letter, and added, 'this is so, so important and I am happy we discussed it.' 'Many thanks to your wife, the first lady of the United States. She sent a letter to Putin about our children,' Zelensky said to Trump. President Trump previously revealed that the first lady continues to bring to his attention Putin's attacks against Ukrainian civilians, even as he communicates with Putin about making a peace deal. 'My conversations with him are always very pleasant. I say, isn't that very lovely conversation? And then the missiles go off that night, I go home, I tell the first lady... I spoke with Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation. She [says]: "Oh, really, another city was just hit,"' Trump said in July.
