Opinion
By Yiannos Stavrinides
They did not allow a repeat of last winter’s scene, when President Zelensky was left alone at the mercy of Trump. By accompanying him, they ensured that the awkward moment would not be replayed—when Trump and his aides publicly humiliated the Ukrainian leader in a live broadcast from the Oval Office. I am referring here to the leaders of the EU, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, NATO, and the United Kingdom. The meeting took place forty-eight hours after the Russian president and the American leader had convened in Alaska for talks on Ukraine.
The gathering at the presidential residence, styled as the “Ukraine Conference,” underscored the necessity for the two warring sides to sit down at the same table and agree on a plan for lasting peace in the region. The meeting, arranged under President Trump’s initiative, is to be followed by a process of trilateral negotiations with the United States present. According to Trump, the U.S. will provide guarantees for the enforcement of peace—though he offered no clarity on how long such guarantees would last.
For the European leaders in Washington, their presence was more than a shield for Zelensky; it was also a bid to activate Europe’s role in providing these guarantees. For his part, Volodymyr Zelensky, though pleased with the developments, expressed his wish that the guarantees be delivered in writing within ten days. In exchange, Ukraine committed itself to purchasing $90 billion worth of American defense equipment.
Putin, meanwhile, is seeking expanded talks with a greater number of participants. In this way, it is thought, he will try to serve his long-standing agenda: delaying tactics and the perpetual deferral of any final outcome. While Moscow has not confirmed such a meeting, American sources suggest it may be hosted in Hungary.
For Ukraine, the most crucial parameter in recent days goes beyond the mere prospect of peace. What matters most is the securing of written guarantees safeguarding Ukrainian territorial integrity for the long term. As for the issue of territorial adjustments—though it did surface at the conference—it was decided that it should be left for later, to be dealt with directly by the immediately concerned parties.
Germany, while thanking President Trump for his efforts to persuade the Russian leader to meet with Zelensky, voiced doubts—through Chancellor Merz—about Putin’s genuine willingness to attend such a meeting. The chancellor also made a point of stressing that European states have a role to play in the Ukrainian question, a role they will exercise grounded in the unity and concord of European governments.
Meloni and Macron, at the close of the conference, expressed optimism about the prospect of a meeting that Moscow had long avoided. Yet they also noted that the guarantees securing any agreement must be expanded so as to cover European soil against the Russian threat.
Markets greeted the developments with unrestrained eagerness, since the desire for a quick solution to the Ukrainian question is, after all, an appealing prospect. Analysts, however, familiar with Russian methods and maneuvering, argue that Moscow will strive to steer the talks into a process designed to drag on for years.
