Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in Washington ahead of a planned meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump on Aug. 18.
“I have already arrived in Washington, tomorrow I am meeting with President Trump,” Zelenskyy
stated on X, while thanking Trump for the invitation. “Tomorrow we are also speaking with European leaders.”
Trump seeks to mediate a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war, which has been ongoing since February 2022. His meeting with Zelenskyy follows talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15.
On the eve of their meeting alongside European leaders, Trump stated that Zelenskyy could choose to end the war “almost immediately” or continue the fighting.
The U.S. president suggested that Ukraine might have to cede Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 under the Obama administration, and refrain from joining NATO as part of a deal to end the fighting.
“Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change,” Trump
stated on Truth Social.
In a separate
post on Truth Social, Trump called the upcoming meeting a “big day” and said he was honored to host European leaders who will join the meeting.
European leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, have
announced they will attend the meeting.
“We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably,” Zelenskyy stated in the post announcing his arrival.
Zelenskyy
stressed that any peace with Russia must be lasting, unlike past deals, “when Ukraine was forced to give up Crimea and part of our East—part of Donbas—and Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack.”
He said Ukraine was offered security guarantees in 1994 but they failed. Crimea, the Ukrainian leader said, should not have been given up then, “just as Ukrainians did not give up Kyiv, Odesa, or Kharkiv after 2022.”
“Ukrainians are fighting for their land, for their independence,” he stated. “Russia must end this war, which it itself started. And I hope that our joint strength with America, with our European friends, will force Russia into a real peace.”
Trump previously
said the peace deal could involve “some swapping of territories to the betterment of both,” although Zelenskyy
ruled out agreeing to cede any Ukrainian land to Russia.
At his meeting with Von der Leyen in Brussels on Aug. 17, Zelenskyy
said any talks on territorial issues should be held trilaterally, with leaders of Ukraine, Russia, and the United States at the table.
“The Constitution of Ukraine makes it impossible to give up territory or trade land,” he stated. “So far, Russia gives no sign the trilateral will happen, and if Russia refuses, then new sanctions must follow.”
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff
said on Aug. 17 that Putin had agreed to allow U.S. and European allies to grant Ukraine security protections similar to NATO’s collective defense mandate as part of an impending deal to end the war.
“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.
Article 5 of the NATO Charter
provides that an armed attack against an ally is considered an attack against all members, obligating them to take actions necessary to assist the ally under attack.
Jacob Burg contributed to this report.
