Trump presses Zelensky for reaching peace deal

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could swiftly end the conflict with Russia by abandoning efforts to reclaim Crimea and forgoing NATO membership.

His comments came ahead of a hastily assembled meeting on Monday at the White House, with Zelensky bringing with him an extraordinary cadre of European leaders to show a united front against Russia.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said: "President Zelensky of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight." "No getting back (Barack) Obama-given Crimea … and no going into NATO by Ukraine. Some things never change!"

Earlier, Trump shared a social media post from a supporter, which said: "Ukraine must be willing to lose some territory to Russia, otherwise the longer the war goes on they will keep losing even more land!"

Also on Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told ABC News' This Week that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky must make concessions to achieve a peace deal.

However, Zelensky has already all but rejected the outline of Putin's proposals at the meeting in Alaska, including for Ukraine to give up the rest of its eastern Donetsk region.

"We need real negotiations, which means we can start where the front line is now," the Ukrainian leader said in Brussels on Sunday, adding his country's constitution made it impossible for him to give away territory.

"I am grateful to the President of the United States for the invitation. We all equally want to end this war swiftly and reliably," Zelensky said on the Telegram messaging app after arriving in Washington late on Sunday.

Upon arrival in Washington, Zelensky said in another social media post: "We all equally want to end this war quickly and reliably."

He expressed hope that together with the US and European countries Ukraine will be able to force Russia to "true peace".

In Europe, the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, the European Union and NATO hope to shore up Zelensky at the crucial diplomatic moment in the conflict.

Security guarantees

European leaders will seek to discuss the role the US can play in security guarantees to protect Ukraine after any agreement with Russia, a German government spokesperson said ahead of the meeting.

French President Emmanuel Macron described Ukraine as an "outpost of our collective defense if Russia wanted to advance again".

Rubio said that European leaders involved in talks with Ukraine "are very helpful being in the room sometimes", particularly in providing long-term security guarantees for Ukraine. He made the remarks in a separate interview with Fox News.

Rubio said he hoped the Europeans would also help to push Ukraine toward a potential peace deal by "giving ideas about what accommodations can be made".

Meanwhile, Rubio did not rule out the US imposing more sanctions on Russia. In an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, he said doing so would signal the failure of Trump's efforts to reach a ceasefire or lasting peace in Ukraine. "The minute he takes those steps, all talks stop," he said.

Presidential envoy Steve Witkoff said the White House extracted critical wins from its meeting with Putin in Alaska.

Security guarantees offering Ukraine "Article 5-like protections "are the real prize, Witkoff said on Sunday on CNN's State of the Union. They're "game-changing", he added.

"We got to an agreement that the United States and other European nations could effectively offer Article 5-like language to cover a security guarantee," Witkoff said.

Article 5 protection generally refers to the collective defense provision within NATO, which states that an attack against one ally is considered an attack against all allies.

Both sides have also kept up their daily long-range strikes behind the front line.

A Russian drone strike late on Sunday on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, killed seven civilians, injuring 20 people, authorities said.

Ukrainian officials said Russian drones on Monday attacked an oil depot in the Odesa region for the second time in two weeks.

Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said on Monday that its air defense shot down 141 Ukrainian drones over the past day.

Xinhua - Agencies