Trump pressures Zelenskyy ahead of high-stakes meeting

U.S. President Donald Trump put the onus on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to end the war with Russia ahead of their meeting in Washington on Monday — a stark contrast to the red carpet he rolled out days earlier for Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskyy, accompanied by several European leaders, is visiting Washington for talks with Trump to discuss possible pathways to end the years-long war. Trump appeared to mark conditions for Monday’s talks in a Truth Social post late Sunday night, setting a potentially tense tone for the meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart.

“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump wrote. “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!!!”

Zelenskyy put out his own message shortly thereafter, reiterating that “we all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably” — and alluding to parameters of his own around territorial concessions and security guarantees.

“Peace must be lasting,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post to X. “Not like it was years ago, 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. Or when Ukraine was given so called ‘security guarantees’ in 1994, but they didn’t work.”

Trump reportedly said he believed Putin would agree to a deal if Ukraine handed over its easternmost Donbas region, including parts Russia doesn’t control. Zelenskyy has previously warned doing so would mean Ukraine loses key defensive positions and would be more vulnerable to Russian attacks in the future.

The Ukrainian president was also sure to include an expression of gratitude for Trump’s efforts — which the Trump administration accused him of failing to do during their blowup row in the Oval Office in February — writing that “our people will always be grateful to President Trump.”

Trump convened Monday’s last-minute meeting in the U.S. capital after a summit with Putin in Alaska on Friday. The U.S. president, who warmly welcomed Putin to American soil, had billed those talks as an opening for potential trilateral peace negotiations with Zelenskyy — but they ended with no deal on the table, and no ceasefire in sight.

During a call with his European counterparts after that meeting, Trump said “it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.”

While European leaders welcomed Trump’s proposal for trilateral peace talks after Friday’s meeting, they still remained cautious that Monday’s summit could be a repeat of Zelenskyy’s winter Oval Office visit, when Trump and his Vice President JD Vance publicly ambushed the Ukrainian leader. 

To show support for Kyiv — and ensure that any deal avoids concessions to Putin — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Finnish President Alexander Stubb are set to join Monday’s conference.

Despite his pointed note to Zelenskyy on Sunday, Trump still appeared thrilled to host the group of European leaders. 

“Big day at the White House tomorrow,” Trump wrote in a separate post. “Never had so many European Leaders at one time. My great honor to host them!!!”