Ukraine and its European backers spent the weekend recalibrating after President Donald Trump appeared to edge closer to Vladimir Putin’s position following their Alaska summit—touting “progress” but producing no ceasefire and few specifics.
European leaders said they will join Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington on Monday to press for clarity and guardrails. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz plan to meet Trump, with Merz’s office saying talks will cover “security guarantees, territorial issues, and continued support for Ukraine.”
Trump has shifted from demanding an immediate ceasefire to pursuing what he called a “permanent peace deal,” a move that left Kyiv uneasy and European capitals on high alert. At the same time, the White House has been exploring NATO-style security guarantees for Ukraine—short of NATO membership—should Russia strike again after any accord, according to U.S. and European officials. U.S. troops on the ground were not discussed, the officials said.
Zelenskyy warned that Putin is complicating diplomacy by refusing to halt attacks ahead of further talks. “Russia rebuffs numerous calls for a ceasefire and has not yet determined when it will stop the killing,” he wrote on X late Saturday. Air-raid alerts in Ukraine coincided with the leaders’ choreography in Anchorage, amplifying frustration in Kyiv over the optics of a red-carpet welcome for the Russian president.
Trump and Putin emerged from their meeting claiming “headway” but announced no truce and took no questions. Trump said he would call Zelenskyy and floated a second round of talks that might include the Ukrainian leader—and perhaps some Europeans—though details remain murky. For now, Kyiv’s allies are racing to ensure any U.S. pivot doesn’t leave Ukraine sidelined—or asked to concede what it has fought to defend.
