Following a tense meeting at the White House between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, European leaders on Tuesday quickly reaffirmed their unified call for an immediate cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine, emphasizing a return to the existing front lines.
Adding to the diplomatic deadlock, Russia has postponed proposed meetings with U.S. officials, further dimming prospects for a swift halt to hostilities.
Notably, European backing for Ukraine’s stance was framed with deliberate praise for President Trump, a diplomatic strategy often employed by allies.
A joint statement, signed by President Zelensky and 11 European leaders from nations including Britain, Finland, France, Germany, and the European Union, declared: “We strongly support President Trump’s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s stance remains unyielding. President Vladimir V. Putin insists that any cease-fire be predicated on Ukraine surrendering the currently unoccupied areas of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. This contested territory accounts for nearly 2 percent of Ukraine’s landmass—double what Russia has managed to seize in the last two years of conflict.
President Zelensky firmly rejected these territorial demands during his White House talks with Mr. Trump. A day prior, President Putin had reportedly called Mr. Trump to reiterate his own conditions and specifically cautioned against providing Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, according to a high-ranking European official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the discussions.
Reportedly keen to replicate his success with a Gaza cease-fire, Mr. Trump urged Mr. Zelensky to cede the disputed territories as a condition for ending the conflict, aligning with Putin’s demands. However, the unnamed official revealed that Mr. Trump ultimately accepted Zelensky’s steadfast refusal during a post-meeting call between Zelensky and European leaders.
Zelensky informed European counterparts that while Trump again pushed for territorial concessions, reminiscent of the Alaska summit with Putin in August, he did not press the issue further. Trump reportedly cautioned that Russia’s larger size could lead to Ukraine’s defeat without a settlement, though Zelensky asserted Ukraine was effectively defending itself. Notably, no Tomahawk missiles were offered by Trump.
The official characterized Friday’s discussions as detrimental to Ukraine and Europe’s diplomatic standing, yet not as severe as the earlier Alaska summit. Ultimately, since Trump did not compel Ukraine to make concessions, the practical outcome of the meeting appears to be minimal change.
In public statements, Mr. Trump described the meeting as cordial and refuted claims of demanding territorial concessions from Ukraine. He took to social media, asserting, “Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by War and Guts. They should stop where they are.”
Reinforcing this stance on Sunday, Mr. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One: “We think that what they should do is just stop at the lines where they are, the battle lines. The rest is very tough to negotiate if you’re going to say, ‘You take this, we take that.’”
Conversely, President Zelensky publicly presented the meeting with Trump as constructive, stating on Sunday: “After many rounds of discussion over more than two hours with him and his team, his message, in my view, is positive: that we stand where we stand on the front line.”
An E.U. diplomat, privy to a briefing with a Ukrainian official, observed that the Trump-Zelensky meeting, while lacking breakthrough, also prevented any regression from the current diplomatic position.
Ultimately, the outcome was largely unchanged, provoking a “profound sense of déjà vu,” according to Lawrence Freedman, an emeritus professor of war studies at King’s College London. The sole tangible development was the proposal for a future summit between Trump and Putin in Budapest, with preparations to be handled by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
However, Moscow on Tuesday announced a postponement of the Rubio-Lavrov meeting, citing the need for “serious preparation” for even their preliminary discussions. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that such a process “may take time,” hence the absence of initial fixed dates for any meeting.
A fundamental disagreement persists between Trump and Putin, as noted by Freedman: Trump prioritizes a cease-fire before any political resolution, while Putin demands a settlement as a prerequisite for peace.
Freedman also highlighted the inherent complexity of negotiating a cease-fire when the actual front lines remain hotly contested.
Trump had reportedly proposed a trilateral meeting in Budapest, with himself mediating between Ukrainian and Russian leaders. Yet, as Zelensky relayed to European officials, these plans remain unfixed.
Despite his threats to escalate pressure on Putin for a cease-fire, Trump has yet to act on them. Ukrainian and other European officials remain convinced that only substantial U.S. pressure can persuade Putin that prolonging the war is ultimately against his own strategic interests.
The European statement on Tuesday concluded with a strong resolve: “We must ramp up the pressure on Russia’s economy and its defense industry, until Putin is ready to make peace,” reaffirming their commitment to continued support for Ukraine.
Additional reporting by Jeanna Smialek from Brussels.