Trump and Zelensky will meet in the US to advance peace negotiations

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with President Trump in Washington on Monday after Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, emerged from Friday’s summit in Alaska without a deal to end the fighting between Russia and Ukraine.

After his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Trump told European leaders that he is more willing for the U.S. to provide direct security guarantees to Ukraine, something Europe has sought to underpin any European force deployed to Ukraine to support potential peace efforts.

Trump also said Russia and Ukraine should go directly to a peace agreement to end the war rather than a cease-fire, and told Fox News that he wouldn’t impose new sanctions on Russia for the time being.

Both Trump and Putin said after their meeting that their talks were productive, but provided few details, and seem to have not been able to make a deal. In the press conference after their meeting, President Trump appeared frustrated.

Whether this marks a change in how Trump approaches dealing with this conflict remains to be seen. But it appears that Mr Trump wants to speed up peace negotiations, and is willing to speak with both Putin and Zelenskyy to make that a possibility.

With wildly divulging interests, making a peace deal, and a peace deal that lasts, is much easier said than done. Zelensky coming to the US to speak with Trump about this indicates that real efforts are being made to make this happen.