Former NATO commander previews what he expects from the Trump-Putin summit
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Forbes
16 minutes ago
- Forbes
Trump-Zelenskyy Meeting: What To Know As Macron, Meloni, Starmer And More Will Attend
Leaders from major European allies, NATO and the European Union are traveling to Washington, D.C., to join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Monday meeting with President Donald Trump—setting up what appear to be crucial talks as Trump pushes for a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine that has been raging since the Russian invasion in 2022. Leaders from the EU and NATO will join the Ukrainian president at the White House. Getty Images Zelenskyy will travel to meet with Trump at the White House on Monday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will reportedly take part in the talks, as well as leaders of individual allied nations including French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Finnish President Alexander Stubb. Trump administration officials have provided few details about what concessions the Russians may have offered at the negotiations in Alaska on Friday, but speaking to CNN on Sunday morning, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff described the Trump-Putin meeting as 'game-changing.' Witkoff said the Trump administration would likely discuss Ukraine exchanging territory with Russia, what he called a 'fundamental issue' for the Russians, but the administration would not make any decisions for Ukraine when it came to territory. 'We intend to discuss it on Monday,' Witkoff told CNN's Jake Tapper. The special envoy did not offer concrete details on what concessions the Russians may have offered in terms of territory, but added 'that discussion is going to specifically be detailed on Monday, when President Zelenskyy arrives with his delegation and some of the other European leaders,' Witkoff said. 'And, hopefully, we can cut through and make some decisions right then and there on that.' Russia illegally annexed the Ukrainian territory Crimea in 2014, and three years after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia controls the majority of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. The Trump administration said the Russians may support Ukraine signing a future security deal with the U.S. and European allies—but even with the security guarantees, convincing the Ukrainians to cede territory could prove difficult for the Trump administration. Zelenskyy has consistently rejected peace offers that include territorial exchanges in the past, and reiterated this sentiment in a statement posted on social media Sunday, shortly after meeting with European leaders in Brussels. 'There is clear support for Ukraine's independence and sovereignty,' the Ukrainian president said. 'Everyone agrees that borders must not be changed by force.' What Is Article 5? The Trump administration says that Russian negotiators indicated they would agree to allow Ukraine to sign a future security agreement with the U.S. and European allies—one that would offer similar protections like those outlined in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, the document that forms the basis of NATO. Article 5 guarantees that if one NATO member is attacked, it is considered an attack on all member states, and all member states are compelled to take necessary action to 'restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.' Witkoff told Tapper the administration got the Russians to agree to allow the U.S. and European nations to 'effectively offer Article 5-like language to cover a security guarantee.' However, he was adamant that this would not amount to Ukraine actually joining NATO—something he said the Russians still viewed as a 'red flag.' The special envoy did not elaborate on the details of the guarantee. European leaders are trying to avoid a repeat of the tense press public meeting Zelenskyy held with Trump and Vice President JD Vance in February, Reuters and other outlets reported Sunday. However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected this notion while speaking to CBS News' Margaret Brennan on Sunday morning. 'We've been working with these people for weeks,' Rubio said. 'They're coming here tomorrow because they chose to come here tomorrow. We invited them to come.' Rubio said the Trump administration was focused on hammering out a peace deal. 'Look, our goal here is not to stage some production for the world to say, oh how dramatic he walked out,' he said. 'Our goal here is to have a peace agreement to end this war.'
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump shares First Lady Melania's letter to Putin as he rages over coverage of Alaska summit
President Trump has posted the full text of a letter from First Lady Melania Trump that he delivered to Russia's Vladimir Putin as part of the pair's Friday summit in Alaska regarding the fate of the Ukraine war. In the letter, which Putin reportedly read 'immediately' in front of delegates at the summit, the First Lady urged the Russian leader to remember the innocence of the children caught in the middle of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 'In protecting the innocence of these children, you will do more than serve Russia alone — you serve humanity itself,' the letter reads. 'Such a bold idea transcends all human division, and you, Mr. Putin, are fit to implement this vision with the stroke of the pen today. It is is time.' The president revealed the letter on Truth Social, after making multiple posts criticizing media coverage of the Alaska summit, which did not result in any lasting deal to end the Ukraine war. "It's incredible how the Fake News violently distorts the TRUTH when it comes to me," Trump wrote in an earlier post. "There is NOTHING I can say or do that would lead them to write or report honestly about me." "If I got Russia to give up Moscow as part of the Deal, the Fake News, and their PARTNER, the Radical Left Democrats, would say I made a terrible mistake and a very bad deal,' he said in another.
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NATO-like protection for Ukraine in focus as Zelensky, European leaders head for Trump meeting
European and NATO leaders are joining Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington on Monday to present a united front in talks with President Donald Trump as US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Sunday said Russia is open to the idea of the US and its European allies offering Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO's collective defence mandate. European leaders said Sunday they would join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in talks with US President Donald Trump on Monday, as they try to find a way to end Russia's offensive. Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday but the talks failed to yield any breakthrough on a ceasefire – though White House envoy Steve Witkoff said both leaders had agreed to provide "robust security guarantees" to Ukraine. Read moreRed carpet welcome but no Ukraine deal: key takeaways from the Trump-Putin summit Witkoff, who took part in the Trump-¨Putin talks in Alaska, said it 'was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that' and called it 'game-changing.' 'We were able to win the following concession: That the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO," Witkoff told CNN's 'State of the Union.' Witkoff offered few details on how such an arrangement would work. But it appeared to be a major shift for Putin and could serve as a workaround to his deep-seated objection to Ukraine's potential NATO membership, a step that Kyiv has long sought. It was expected to be a key topic Monday as Zelensky and major European leaders meet with Trump at the White House. Article 5, at the heart of the 32-member trans-Atlantic military alliance, says an armed attack against one or more member nations shall be considered an attack against them all. What needed to be hammered out at this week's talks were the contours of any security guarantees, said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also participated in the summit. Ukraine and European allies have pushed the US to provide that backstop in any peace agreement to deter future attacks by Moscow. 'How that's constructed, what we call it, how it's built, what guarantees are built into it that are enforceable, that's what we'll be talking about over the next few days with our partners," Rubio said on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' It was unclear, however, whether Trump had fully committed to such a guarantee. Rubio said it would be 'a huge concession." The comments shed new light on what was discussed in Alaska. Before Sunday, US officials had offered few details even as both Trump and Putin said their meeting was a success. Zelensky hails 'historic' US security guarantees reports European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday hailed the reports of robust security guarantees for Ukraine. But Zelensky, speaking alongside her at a news conference in Brussels, rejected the idea of Russia offering his country security guarantees. "What President Trump said about security guarantees is much more important to me than Putin's thoughts, because Putin will not give any security guarantees," he said. Zelensky later said on social media that the US offer regarding security guarantees was "historic". Moscow denounces Macron French President Emmanuel Macron, who will take part in the Washington meeting along with von der Leyen and others, said European leaders would ask Washington "to what extent" they were ready to contribute to the security guarantees offered to Ukraine in any peace agreement. Read moreUkraine and Europe must present 'united front', says Macron ahead of White House meeting Of Moscow's position, he said: "There is only one state proposing a peace that would be a capitulation: Russia." Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called that an "abject lie" in a statement on Telegram later Sunday. Moscow had been proposing a "peaceful resolution" of the conflict for seven years under the terms of the Minsk Accords, she said. Macron, she added, was trying to convince Ukraine that it could win on the battlefield even when he knew that that was "impossible". Hopes for 'productive meeting' Trump, who pivoted after the Alaska meeting to say he was now seeking a peace deal rather than a ceasefire, on Sunday posted "BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA. STAY TUNED!" on his Truth Social platform, without elaborating. Trump's sudden focus on a peace deal aligns with the stance long taken by Putin, one which Ukraine and its European allies have criticised as Putin's way to buy time while trying to make battlefield gains. Zelensky also said he saw "no sign" the Kremlin leader was prepared to meet him and Trump for a three-way summit, as had been floated by the US president. The leaders heading to Washington on Monday to appear alongside Zelensky call themselves the "coalition of the willing". As well as von der Leyen and Macron, they include British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. Also heading to Washington will be Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who get on well with Trump. On Sunday they all held a video meeting to prepare their joint position. (FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)
