Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said ahead of talks with Donald Trump on Monday that Russia should not be “rewarded” for its invasion, after the US leader pressed Kyiv to make concessions in exchange for peace.
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The talks, in which European leaders will also take part, follow a Friday summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska that failed to produce a ceasefire in the nearly three-and-a-half-year war.
Trump, who dropped his insistence on a ceasefire in favour of a final peace deal after meeting Putin, said on Sunday that Zelensky could end the war “almost immediately, if he wants to” but that, for Ukraine, there was “no getting back” Crimea and “NO GOING INTO NATO”.
Kyiv and European leaders have warned against making political and territorial concessions to Russia, whose assault on Ukraine since February 2022 has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths.
“Russia should not be rewarded for its participation in this war … And it is Moscow that must hear the word: Stop,” Zelensky said in a Facebook post on Monday.
Trump and Zelensky are expected to meet one-on-one before being joined by the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Finland, as well as Nato chief Mark Rutte and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, according to the White House.