.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that he had a “good” conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on security guarantees for Ukraine as the country’s war with Russia nears its fourth year.

Speaking at the White House alongside Trump and European leaders, Zelenskyy said security guarantees remain at the heart of Ukraine’s survival and future independence. “The first one is security guarantees. And we are very happy with President [Trump], that all the leaders are here, and security in Ukraine depends on the United States and European countries,” Zelenskyy said. “The decision on support is very important,” he added, but he gave few details on what guarantees could look like or what kind of support would be most helpful.

Trump also stressed the importance of security, but he added that most of the burden should fall on Europe. The conflict cannot be resolved without having “very, very tough talks with people on the separation of territory,” Trump said. “We’re going to help them, and we’re going to make it very secure,” Trump said. “We also need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory, taking into consideration the current line of contact. That means the war zone, the war line center.”

The White House meeting highlighted deep disagreements among Western leaders about how to balance support for Ukraine with efforts to pursue a negotiated settlement. Trump’s apparent openness to territorial concessions stood in stark contrast to Zelenskyy, who has frequently said Ukraine’s sovereignty and international borders must be preserved.

Sanctions, Ceasefire Debate, and NATO Question Remain

Leaders in Washington debated the issue of guarantees while U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill ratcheted up calls for economic pressure on Russia and its trading partners. Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said that the Trump administration should more aggressively target Moscow’s finances by going after countries still buying Russian oil. Graham is co-sponsoring legislation that would allow Trump to levy tariffs of up to 500 percent on countries that do business with Russia.

“My advice to President Trump and [Secretary of State Marco Rubio] is, you’ve got to convince Putin that if this war doesn’t end justly and honorably with Ukraine making concessions also, we’re going to destroy the Russian economy,” Graham said on Fox News. “The second most important person on the planet to end this war is President Xi in China,” he continued, saying that Washington needs to start pressing Beijing to withdraw its support.

Trump has already demonstrated a willingness to use tariffs as a cudgel against Russia’s trade partners, levying a 50 percent tariff on India in August, partly in response to New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil. Graham said Trump should consider using a similar threat against China to rapidly shift the dynamics of the conflict.

EU diplomats are also finalizing a 19th round of sanctions against Moscow, with a fresh package of measures expected later this month. The new sanctions will “further weaken Russia’s energy revenue, its access to international banking and payments systems and its military-industrial base, while closing loopholes,” according to a joint EU statement. After more than three years of coordinated Western action, Russia has become the most sanctioned country in modern history, more isolated than Iran, North Korea, or Venezuela.

Sanctions are not the only issue on which European leaders disagree with Trump. They have also called for a ceasefire before serious negotiations can begin. “I can’t imagine that the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said, arguing that a temporary halt to the fighting is necessary to give peace talks credibility. “It’s important to at least create a breathing space to allow the peace talks to start,” Merz said. Trump disagreed, pointing out that several of the six peace agreements he said he had brokered in the past few months had come without a ceasefire. “You have a ceasefire, and they rebuild and rebuild and rebuild,” Trump said. The main appeal of a truce, he said, is the near-instantaneous cessation of civilian casualties.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb also met with Trump at the White House on Monday. He was elected in March 2024 and has expressed open skepticism toward Russian President Vladimir Putin’s willingness to respect a ceasefire. “We know from Finnish history, being neighbors with Russia, having an 800-mile border, I’m not 100 percent sure that Russia will keep up with the ceasefire agreement,” Stubb said. Stubb, a Trump critic who is said to be one of the president’s closest European interlocutors, has said that Finland is ready to “broker a peace deal on Finland’s terms.”

Beyond sanctions and ceasefire demands, Trump has been very clear about what Ukraine will have to give up to secure peace. The former president has called for Ukraine to officially relinquish Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, and to abandon its stated goal of eventually joining NATO. “President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “The problem is that eight years ago, they gave the Crimea to Russia,” Trump added, falsely blaming the Obama administration for not pushing back more forcefully against Russia more than a decade ago. “NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE” must remain a red line, he insisted.

Zelenskyy’s demand for long-term guarantees from Washington and European capitals stood in stark contrast to Trump’s push for immediate Ukrainian concessions. The two men symbolize deep divisions in Washington and Europe about how the war might end. New sanctions are on the way, new tariff threats have emerged, and the fighting continues unabated. Peace remains trapped in the no-man’s land between demands for compromise and solidarity.