A second diplomat confirmed that allies were supportive of the American initiative to broker a truce, not because they necessarily believed it would succeed, but “because it will be a clear test of Russian intentions.” A third diplomat noted that security guarantees being developed would help Ukraine “negotiate from a position of strength,” while sanctions would ensure “we … have leverage on Putin.”
Leaders such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, France’s Macron, the U.K.’s Keir Starmer, and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni traveled to Washington on Monday to support Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a meeting with Trump. This occurred just days after the U.S. leader hosted Putin for discussions in Alaska, where he claimed progress had been made on “many points.”
“This is a constant Trump management exercise for everyone — Putin included, by the way,” Fiona Hill, a former advisor to Trump during his first presidential term and now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told POLITICO.
She added, “But I think they did as good a job as you could expect on Monday.” According to her, the best outcome hoped for from the Alaska summit was “something they could work with — and it seems like there was something, even though the optics were terrible.”
Penny drops for Trump
Western partners have praised Trump — thanking him for hosting the talks, and expressed genuine relief after he seemed to provide substantial assurances that the country would play a role in security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a peace deal. Behind closed doors, however, their focus remains on pushing for new, hard-hitting economic restrictions if and when Moscow refuses to end its invasion.
“Everyone is going through the motions,” a fourth EU diplomat said. “But we don’t know what Putin’s end game is. What will motivate Putin to give any concessions? I don’t know.”
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