(Washington) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Russia to “put an end to this war which she herself triggered”, a few hours before her meeting in Washington on Monday with Donald Trump, who wants to push Kyiv to territorial concessions.
What to know
- The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, will meet his American counterpart, Donald Trump, at the White House on Monday afternoon;
- A meeting including various European leaders will also take place on Monday;
- Donald Trump supports a plan aimed at putting an end to war by giving up Ukrainian territories to Russia and preventing Kyiv from joining NATO;
- Moscow pulled some 140 drones and four ballistic missiles in the night from Sunday to Monday, one of the strikes killing seven people in Kharkiv.
Ukraine shares “the deep desire to end this war quickly,” said the Ukrainian leader on Sunday evening, adding that “peace [devait] be sustainable ”.
“I hope that our joint strength with the United States, with our European friends, will force Russia to real peace,” he said on social networks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that Russia should not be “rewarded” for his war, a few hours before a long -awaited meeting with American and European leaders in order to find a way out of the conflict.
“Putin will commit murders to maintain pressure on Ukraine and Europe, as well as to humiliate diplomatic efforts,” reacted the Ukrainian leader on Facebook, adding that Russia “must not be rewarded for his participation in this war”.
Several European leaders will be present in Washington to support Kyiv’s position, summoned by the American president to accept concessions after his summit with Vladimir Putin on Friday in Alaska, which did not stop fighting in Ukraine.
PHOTO SERGEI BULKIN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Donald Trump shakes the hand of Vladimir Putin at their top in Alaska on August 15, 2025.
The French President Emmanuel Macron, the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, NATO Mark Rutte, and the president of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen.
A few hours before this meeting, the first in this format since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, Russia maintains pressure on the ground.
Moscow pulled some 140 drones and four ballistic missiles on Sunday to Monday, announced the Ukrainian air force.
A Russian drone shot left seven dead and injured in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, according to local authorities.
Two people were killed in Ukrainian strikes in the Kherson and Donetsk regions, of which important parties are under the control of the Russian troops, according to the occupation authorities.
The meeting in Washington should make it possible to tackle possible territorial concessions and security guarantees, to end the bloodiest conflict in Europe since the Second World War.
“The Ukrainian President Zelensky can end the war with Russia almost immediately if he wants, or he can continue to fight,” Trump warned in a series of messages on his social social network where he put pressure on the Ukrainian leader to give up some of his requirements.
“No question” for Kyiv to recover control of the Crimea annexed by Moscow in 2014, nor to enter NATO, warned the billionaire.
Screenshot from Donald Trump’s social social account
Territorial concessions
The Ukrainian President will first head on head with Mr. Trump from 1 p.m. (East time). The various European leaders will then join them.
His last visit to the White House dates back to February 28, when he had been reprimanded and humiliated publicly in the oval office by Donald Trump and his vice-president JD Vance, who had reproached him for his lack of recognition for American support.
In addition to the question of the Crimea mentioned explicitly on Sunday by Donald Trump, an official in the current telephone exchange on Saturday between the American president and European leaders told AFP that he supported a Moscow proposal that Kyiv would give up the regions of Donetsk and Louhansk (East), and the front would be frozen in those of Kherson and Zaporijia (South).
The American emissary Steve Witkoff assured that Moscow had made “certain territorial concessions” concerning “five regions” Ukrainian, citing only “an important discussion on Donetsk”, a region which constitutes the military priority of the Kremlin.
Security guarantees
The issue of security guarantees offered in Kyiv in exchange for a compromise should occupy a central place during Monday discussions.
When he returned from Alaska, where he welcomed Vladimir Putin with great fanfare, Donald Trump spoke of the track of a collective security clause inspired by article 5 of NATO, outside the framework of the Atlantic Alliance, considered by Moscow as an existential threat.
According to Emmanuel Macron, Europeans will ask Mr. Trump “to what extent” he will join the security guarantees.
The American president has suggested a tripartite summit with MM. Putin and Zelensky, if “everything works well” when he receives the Ukrainian leader.
In the event of a failure of the talks, the head of American diplomacy, Marco Rubio, warned that Washington could take “new sanctions” against Moscow.
China said on Monday hoping for an agreement “acceptable to all parties as soon as possible”.
The Kremlin, which has the advantage on the front, is accused by Kyiv and its allies of playing the watch by maintaining maximalist requests.
