We had an extremely productive meeting and many points were agreed to, there are just a very few that are left. We didn’t get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there. Donald Trump US President

AP Kyiv

Ukrainian President Volody­myr Zelenskyy said he would meet US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday after a Russia-US summit ended without an agreement to stop the fighting in Ukraine after 3 1/2 years.

In a reversal only few hours after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump said an overall peace agreement, and not a ceasefire, was the best way to end the war. That statement echoed Putin’s view that Russia is not interested in a temporary truce, and instead is seeking a long-term settlement that takes Moscow’s interests into account.

Trump and Ukraine’s European allies had been calling for a ceasefire ahead of any negotiations. Zelenskyy, who was not invited to Alaska for the summit, said he held a “long and substantive” conversation with Trump early on Saturday. He thanked Trump for an invitation to meet in person in Washington on Monday and said they would “discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war.”

It will be Zelenskyy’s first visit to the US since Trump berated him publicly for being “disrespectful” during an extraordinary Oval Office meeting on February 28. Trump, who also held calls with European leaders on Saturday, confirmed the White House meeting and said that “if all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin.”

Trump rolled out the red carpet on Friday for Putin, who was in the US for the first time in a decade and since the start of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But he gave little concrete detail afterwards of what was discussed. On Saturday, he posted on social media it “went very well”.

Zelenskyy reiterated the importance of involving European leaders, who also were not at the summit. “It is important that Europeans are involved at every stage to ensure reliable security guarantees together with America,” he said. “We also discussed positive signals from the American side rega­rding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine’s security.” 

Zelenskyy said he spoke to Trump one-on-one and then in a call with other European leaders. In total, the conversations lasted over 90 minutes. Trump said in Alaska “there’s no deal until there’s a deal,” after Putin claimed the two leaders had hammered out an “understanding” on Ukraine and warned Europe not to “torpedo the nascent progress”.

During an interview with Fox News Channel before returning to Washington, Trump insisted the onus going forward might be on Zelenskyy “to get it done”, but said there would also be some involvement from European nations. European leaders said they were ready to work with Trump and Zelenskyy towards “a trilateral summit with European support.”

The statement by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, British PM Keir Starmer, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Polish PM Donald Tusk and the EU’s two top officials said, “Ukraine must have ironclad security guarantees” and welcomed US readiness to provide them.

“It will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory,” they said. “International borders must not be changed by force.” They did not mention a ceasefire, which they had hoped for ahead of the summit. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said “the harsh reality is Russia has no intention of ending this war anytime soon,” noting that Moscow’s forces launched new attacks on Ukraine even as the delegations met. “Putin continues to drag out negotiations and hopes he gets away with it. He left Anchorage without making any commitments to end the killing,” she said.

Czech PM Petr Fiala said the summit confirmed that “while the US and its allies are looking for ways to peace, Putin is still only interested in making the greatest possible territorial gains and restoring the Soviet empire.” Zelenskyy voiced support for Trump’s proposal for a trilateral meeting with the US and Russia. He said “key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this.”

But Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said po­tential meeting of Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy has not been raised in US-Russia discussions. “The topic has not been touched upon yet,” he said, as per Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. Zelen­skyy wrote on X he told Tru­mp “sanctions must be stren­gth­ened if there is no trilateral meet or if Russia tries to evade an honest end to the war.” 

Russia captured 2 more villages in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine’s military said. Zelenskyy said the situation in Done­tsk was “extremely difficult” but forces had achieved some gains.