All eyes were on the White House yesterday as Donald Trump hosted several European leaders as part of the continued effort to bring about an end to the war in Ukraine.
The divisive US president met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Friday of last week, with the pair reportedly holding a private meeting for three hours. Ultimately no terms for a ceasefire were agreed upon, but Trump has insisted in the wake of the meeting that he and Putin had made “great progress”.
Yesterday it was the turn of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to share a room with Trump. Zelenskyy, a redoubtable figure in the midst of the Russian invasion, was joined at the White House by several peers from around Europe, including Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom and Emmanuel Macron of France.
The coalition of EU leaders had a round table discussion with Trump, talking over a number of matters relating to the war. It is feared in some circles that Trump is ready to concede too much to Putin in order to effect the deal he claimed he had the power to fix within 24 hours (he said this prior to winning the election).
As such the presence of multiple world leaders added intrigue to yesterday’s proceedings. They, it seemed, were there to stand firmly beside Zelenskyy. Ukraine, remember, have made it clear that they do not want to cede large swathes of territory to Russia; the current terms Putin is proposing are, essentially, unreasonable.
Yet Trump – who has adopted the role of intermediary – seems confident that a deal can be reached nonetheless.
During his meeting with the European leaders at the White House yesterday, a hot mic shared by CBS News caught Trump saying: “I think he wants to make a deal for me, as crazy as it sounds.”
‘He’ is thought to be Putin.
By all accounts, yesterday’s summit also went well, in stark contrast to Zelenskyy’s last trip to the Oval Office.
Speaking after the meeting had ended, the UK’s Keir Starmer said “real progress” was made. “There was a real sense of unity between the European leaders that were there, and president Trump and president Zelenskyy,” he said.
He also hinted at two outcomes from the meeting, including a supposed agreement between president Putin and president Zelenskyy.
“The other material outcome was the agreement that there will now be a bilateral agreement between president Putin and president Zelenskyy, that was after a phone call between president Trump and president Putin during the course of this afternoon, followed by a trilateral which will then add in president Trump,” Starmer revealed.
“That is a recognition of the principle that on some of these issues, whether it’s territory or the exchange of prisoners, or the very serious issue of the return of children, that is something where Ukraine must be at the table.
“These were the two outcomes that were the most important coming out of today. They’re positive outcomes, there was a real sense of unity. We’ve made real progress today.”
