Trump’s tone on ending war likely to alarm Europeans ahead of talks — snap analysis
Jakub Krupa
In one of many posts on social media overnight, US president Donald Trump claimed that “president Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to”.
His comments are likely to alarm European leaders as they could signal growing US pressure on Ukraine to accept a deal, however imperfect or outright bad it is, as Trump is determined to secure a diplomatic success after his meeting with Vladimir Putin on Friday.
We all remember what happened during Zelenskyy’s last visit to the White House – even if US state secretary, Marco Rubio, appeared to play down apparent similarities between the two visit in his TV interview over the weekend.
But, even more worringly for Europe, Trump also added:
“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!!!”
This position by Trump appears to violate one of the European red lines for Ukraine, saying that Ukraine must not be blocked from deciding about its future.
On Saturday, European leaders adopted a statement saying:
“No limitations should be placed on Ukraine’s armed forces or on its cooperation with third countries. Russia cannot have a veto against Ukraine’s pathway to EU and Nato.
It will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory. International borders must not be changed by force.”
It’s hard to reconcile the two positions – and there will be some concern that by meeting Zelenskyy first, without the Europeans, Trump could seek to pursue this line even further before he sees a concerted push back from European partners.
One to watch.
Key events
Hungary, Ukraine clash over criticism for attack on Russian oil pipeline
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian foreign minister clashed with his Hungarian counterpart on social media this morning after Hungary accused Ukraine of an attack on a Russian oil pipeline.
Earlier this morning, Péter Szijjártó heavily criticised Ukraine for an attack on a Russian pipeline leading to Hungary, calling it “outrageous” and “unacceptable.”
The Hungarian minister said:
“Ukraine has once again attacked the oil pipeline leading to Hungary, cutting off supplies. This latest strike against our energy security is outrageous and unacceptable!
Russian deputy energy minister Pavel Sorokin informed me that experts are working to restore the transformer station essential for operating the pipeline, but for now they cannot say when deliveries will resume.
For 3.5 years Brussels and Kyiv have tried to drag Hungary into the war in Ukraine. These repeated Ukrainian attacks on our energy supply serve that same purpose.
Let me be clear: this is not our war. We have nothing to do with it, and as long as we are in charge, Hungary will stay out of it.
Finally, a reminder to Ukrainian decision-makers: electricity from Hungary plays a vital role in powering your country …”
His comments, including a thinly veiled threat against Ukraine, sparked an immediate reaction from Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, telling him to take his complaints to Moscow.
“Peter, it is Russia, not Ukraine, who began this war and refuses to end it.
Hungary has been told for years that Moscow is an unreliable partner.
Despite this, Hungary has made every effort to maintain its reliance on Russia. Even after the full-scale war began.
You can now send your complaints – and threats – to your friends in Moscow.”
Seven dead, 20 injured in Russian attack on Kharkiv
Separately, at least seven people were killed and some 20 injured in a separate attack on Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, agencies reported.
Six children aged 6 to 17 were among 20 other people injured in the attack on Ukraine’s second largest city, Oleh Synehubov, governor of the wider Kharkiv region, wrote on Telegram.
A ballistic missile attack shattered around 1,000 windows in various buildings in the city, Synehubov said. Some residents had to be evacuated from their homes, officials said.
“Russia is a murderous war machine that Ukraine is holding back. And it must be stopped through transatlantic unity and pressure,” Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X after the attack.
17 injured in overnight Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia
The number of people injured in the Russian shelling of Zaporizhzhia has increased to 17, according to the latest update from the Ukrainian army.
Its statement added:
The number of victims is being specified. The blast wave and debris damaged residential buildings and commercial premises, and a bus stop was partially destroyed. The necessary services are working at the scene.
Meanwhile, showing growing concern about how the signals coming from the US are being understood by Russia, Zelenskyy’s top aide, Andriy Yermak, posted a video of a Russian armoured vehicle carrying two flags, of Russia and the US.
“Russian propagandists show a video in which Russian military equipment goes on the assault with the flags of Russia and the US.”
He continued:
“The Russians are using the symbols of the US in their own terrorist war of aggression, marked by the killing of civilians.”
“Utter arrogance,” he added.
Trump’s tone on ending war likely to alarm Europeans ahead of talks — snap analysis
Jakub Krupa
In one of many posts on social media overnight, US president Donald Trump claimed that “president Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to”.
His comments are likely to alarm European leaders as they could signal growing US pressure on Ukraine to accept a deal, however imperfect or outright bad it is, as Trump is determined to secure a diplomatic success after his meeting with Vladimir Putin on Friday.
We all remember what happened during Zelenskyy’s last visit to the White House – even if US state secretary, Marco Rubio, appeared to play down apparent similarities between the two visit in his TV interview over the weekend.
But, even more worringly for Europe, Trump also added:
“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!!!”
This position by Trump appears to violate one of the European red lines for Ukraine, saying that Ukraine must not be blocked from deciding about its future.
On Saturday, European leaders adopted a statement saying:
“No limitations should be placed on Ukraine’s armed forces or on its cooperation with third countries. Russia cannot have a veto against Ukraine’s pathway to EU and Nato.
It will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory. International borders must not be changed by force.”
It’s hard to reconcile the two positions – and there will be some concern that by meeting Zelenskyy first, without the Europeans, Trump could seek to pursue this line even further before he sees a concerted push back from European partners.
One to watch.
Ceasefire, security guarantees to be discussed at White House, Finnish PM says
In the last few minutes, Finland’s prime minister Petteri Orpo said that a ceasefire and security guarantees for Ukraine are the most important topics at the meeting of US president Donald Trump, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders.
Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, will be among those in attendance.
Jakub Krupa
It’s Jakub Krupa here, taking over to guide you through the day as we build up to the main event in Washington this evening.
Good morning.
Asked behind the scenes at June’s G7 summit if he could explain why Donald Trump seemed to like him so much, Keir Starmer admitted he did not really know.
But whatever the reason, when it comes to Ukraine, the UK prime minister is once again hoping to exploit this somewhat curious relationship, Peter Walker writes in this analysis.
It continues:
As soon as it was announced that a string of European leaders planned to join Volodymyr Zelenskyy to back the Ukrainian president in crucial talks with Trump at the White House on Monday, it was obvious Starmer would be joining them.
The idea of Britain being some sort of bridge between US and European interests is something of a longstanding UK diplomatic cliche, and not one that always necessarily carries much meaning.
But in the case of Ukraine, Starmer has very deliberately sought to position himself as a leader who can get along with Trump while consistently stressing to him Europe’s red lines over any peace plan, and trying to sweet-talk the president into offering US security guarantees.
You can read the full analysis here:
A Ukrainian drone intercepted by Russia near the Smolensk nuclear power plant detonated after falling but did not cause significant damage to the plant, Russia’s nuclear power corporation Rosatom said on Monday.
“The damage is insignificant, there are no casualties,” Rosatom said.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Sunday it had prevented a Ukrainian drone attack on the Smolensk nuclear power plant, Reuters reports.
A Russian drone attack on a five-storey apartment block in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv early Monday killed five people and wounded more than a dozen others, Ukrainian authorities said.
The attack, which took place just before dawn, reduced part of the building to rubble and sparked fires on at least three floors, the region’s governor Oleg Synegubov said on Telegram.
Russia fired four drones at the building, he said.
Ukraine’s state emergency service posted videos showing rescuers attempting to break through the rubble to reach a trapped resident, while another showed a floor in flames, AFP reports.
“Five people were killed, including a girl aged about one-and-a-half years old,” Ukraine’s prosecution service said.
“At least 18 people were wounded and suffered acute shock, including children.”
The city near the Russian border was also hit hours earlier by a ballistic missile that wounded at least 11 people, Mayor Igor Terekhov said.
Russia also struck the southern Odesa region with drones early Monday, sparking a fire at a fuel facility, regional governor Oleg Kiper said.
Ukraine’s air force said on Monday that Russia had launched four missiles and 140 drones during an overnight attack on Ukraine, Reuters reports.
The air force downed 88 drones and recorded hits in 25 locations across six Ukrainian regions, according to the statement posted on the Telegram messaging app.
Here are some images coming to us over the wires.
Ukraine’s foreign minister says Russia continues to kill civilians despite peace efforts ahead of the US and Ukrainian presidential summit.
“Russia is a murderous war machine that Ukraine is holding back. And it must be stopped through transatlantic unity and pressure,” Andrii Sybiha wrote on X on Monday after a Russian attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
Sybiha also posted a photo of the smoking damage to a building, saying:
This is a residential building in Kharkiv. This night Russia killed at least four people here, including a child, and injured many more … Moscow must stop the killing in order to advance diplomacy.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy will make his second visit to the White House on Monday with the daunting task of reversing the damage done to Ukraine’s security prospects by Friday’s Trump-Putin summit in Alaska.
But as Julian Borger writes in this analysis, the Ukrainian president will not be alone as he was on his first trip to the White House in February, when he was ambushed and humiliated by Donald Trump and vice-president JD Vance, who sought to bully him into capitulation to Moscow’s demands.
This time the Ukrainian leader comes to Washington flanked by a dream team of European leaders, including Britain’s Keir Starmer, Germany’s Friedrich Merz and France’s Emmanuel Macron, who combine economic and military clout with proven rapport with Trump.
Their mission will be to use their individual and combined influence to coax the president out of the pro-Russian positions he adopted after just a couple of hours under Putin’s sway in the sub-Arctic on Friday.
The full analysis is here:
Germany’s foreign minister has called for stepped-up pressure on Russia, including more aid for Ukraine, to push Moscow into concessions toward a “just and lasting peace”.
Johann Wadephul was speaking in Tokyo ahead of the summit between Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders including German chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“It is probably not an exaggeration to say the whole world is looking to Washington,” Reuters quotes Wadephul as saying at a press briefing on Monday alongside Japan’s foreign minister.
“Firm security guarantees are central” because “Ukraine must be able to defend itself effectively even after a ceasefire and peace agreement”, he added.
The White House has released the timings for the day’s events in Washington DC.
Donald Trump is to hold a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at 1.15pm (5.15pm GMT) on Monday at the White House.
Trump will then participate in a multilateral meeting with European leaders visiting Washington at 3pm (7pm GMT).
Here are some of the scenes in Washington DC amid the security operation for the crucial leaders’ summit.
In saying “peace must be lasting”, Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said on X that must be “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,” the Ukrainian president said.
Now, our soldiers have successes in Donetsk and Sumy regions. I am confident that we will defend Ukraine, effectively guarantee security, and that our people will always be grateful to President Trump, everyone in America, and every partner and ally for their support and invaluable assistance.
Opening summary
Welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared “Russia must end this war” as he arrived in Washington DC ahead of crucial talks with Donald Trump over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A host of European leaders will join Zelenskyy on Monday for the summit as they seek to provide a counterpoint to Vladimir Putin’s arguments following his talks with the US president on Friday.
The leaders – British prime minister Keir Starmer, French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and Finnish president Alexander Stubb – cleared their diaries to fly to the US at short notice, which is seen as a measure of how alarmed they were by Friday’s Trump-Putin summit in Anchorage.
After the Alaska talks Trump reportedly endorsed the Kremlin’s plan to end the war in Ukraine, including Kyiv giving up territory that Russia has been unable to seize and no ceasefire until a final deal has been agreed.
Zelenskyy said in a post on X after arriving in Washington DC late on Sunday that he was grateful to Trump for the invitation and “we all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably”. He also said that “peace must be lasting”.
“Russia must end this war, which it itself started,” Zelenskyy said. “And I hope that our joint strength with America, with our European friends, will force Russia into a real peace.”
Here are some of the latest developments:
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Zelenskyy met European leaders in Brussels earlier on Sunday and reiterated Ukraine’s stance on land swaps, saying on X: “Ukraine’s constitution makes it impossible to give up or trade land. Since the territorial issue is so important, it should be discussed only by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia at the trilateral – Ukraine, the US, Russia. So far, Russia gives no sign this will happen, and if Russia refuses, new sanctions must follow.”
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Ahead of Monday’s peace talks in the US, Emmanuel Macron said that in order to have a “lasting peace deal for Ukraine, Ukraine needs a strong army”. He added that European allies want “Ukraine’s territorial integrity to be respected” and that “Ukraine must be represented in any talks on Ukraine’s future”. The French president also said that “our goal for tomorrow’s talks is to present a united front between Ukraine and its European allies”. The Washington talks will also be attended by the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and Nato’s secretary general, Mark Rutte.
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Zelenskyy has hailed the decision to offer security guarantees to Ukraine as part of a peace deal as he prepared to meet Trump. “Security guarantees, as a result of our joint work, must really be very practical, delivering protection on land, in the air and at sea, and must be developed with Europe’s participation,” the Ukrainian president said.
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In announcing his visit to Washington, Keir Starmer praised Trump for his “efforts to end Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine”. At the same time, the British PM reasserted Europe’s red lines, saying the “path to peace” could not be decided without Zelenskyy and that Russia should be “squeezed” with further sanctions. Starmer has deliberately sought to position himself as a leader who can get along with Trump while consistently stressing the red lines over any peace plan.
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The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said Russia and Ukraine were both “going to have to make concessions” for there to be a peaceful resolution to the war. In interviews on Sunday Rubio said the talks in Alaska had “made progress in the sense that we identified potential areas of agreement – but there remains some big areas of disagreement”. “We’re still a long ways off,” Rubio added. “We’re not at the precipice of a peace agreement. We’re not at the edge of one. But I do think progress was made and towards one.” He declined to go into specific areas of agreement or disagreement.
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Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Steve Witkoff, said Putin had agreed that the US and European allies could offer Ukraine a Nato-style, “Article 5-like” security guarantee as part of an eventual deal to end the war. Witkoff added that Russia had agreed to unspecified concessions on five Ukrainian regions central to the war, particularly the eastern Donetsk province. “We agreed to robust security guarantees that I would describe as gamechanging,” he said.
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Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s envoy to international organisations in Vienna, said early on Monday that Russia agreed that any future peace agreement must provide security guarantees to Kyiv, but added that Russia “has equal right to expect that Moscow will also get efficient security guarantees”.
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European Union council president Antonio Costa said he “welcomed the United States’ willingness to participate in providing security guarantees to Ukraine”. He also said: “Transatlantic unity is paramount at this moment to achieve a sustainable peace in Ukraine.”