US President Donald Trump has ruled out Nato membership for Ukraine, hours ahead of a key meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a cohort of European allies on Monday.
The meeting is the next stage of talks following Trump’s landmark peace summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said Zelenskyy “can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight.”
He added there would be “no going into Nato by Ukraine” and “no getting back” of Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The US president appeared excited for Monday’s meeting, adding “big day at the White House tomorrow. Never had so many European Leaders at one time. My great honour to host them!!!”
Zelenskyy appeared to respond to Trump, saying “we all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably,” in a post on X.
The Ukrainian president pushed back against the possibility of land trades, which Trump is expected to call for as part of a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
“Peace must be lasting. Not like it was years ago, when Ukraine was forced to give up Crimea and part of our East—part of Donbas—and Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack,” he added.
Donetsk and Luhansk, two mineral-rich regions of Ukraine that are mostly occupied by Russian forces, could be the proposed price for peace.
In exchange, the Russian president would reportedly withdraw his forces from other areas of Ukraine and accept a Nato-like security guarantee that Ukraine would be protected from further incursion.
Keir Starmer will be among the European leaders presenting a united front with Zelenskyy at the meeting.
By arriving as a group, they hope to avoid any debacles like Zelenskyy’s February meeting with Trump, where the Ukrainian president left early after being chastised by Trump and his Vice-President JD Vance in front of the press.
The public spat, which saw Vance accuse Zelenskyy of not being thankful enough to the US, resulted in American aid to Ukraine being temporarily halted.
The European leaders will also push to protect Ukraine from having to submit to Russian land grabs as a price for peace.
Those joining Starmer include France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Alexander Stubb, president of Finland.
Nato Chief Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are also attending.
The European leaders have said it is up to Ukraine to decide how it wishes to end the war, and hailed Zelenskyy’s commitment to a peace.
Trump has appeared to drop his calls for a ceasefire after his summit in Alaska with the Russian President.
Putin has long refused to agree to a ceasefire as a precondition for talks to end the war, prompting fears that Russia could continue gaining ground in Ukraine as negotiations take place.
The US president has instead said he wants to focus on a long-term peace deal, though his secretary of state Marco Rubio has signalled a deal is “still a long way off”.
There will be “additional consequences” for Russia if it does not agree to a peace deal, Mr Rubio added, though he suggested fresh financial sanctions would be unlikely to force Putin to the negotiating table.
Zelenskyy, however, had indicated that a ceasefire is his preference, telling reporters on Sunday “it’s impossible to do this under the pressure of weapons. So it’s necessary to cease fire and work quickly on a final deal.”
European leaders are also keen to hear from Trump after he signalled he would provide a security guarantee to the Coalition of the Willing.
The coalition, which is aimed at deterring future Russian aggression once peace is agreed, has argued it needs an American backstop, likely in the form of air support, to succeed.
Over the weekend, Starmer was among the leaders who welcomed suggestions from Trump that he was open to providing a guarantee, but details of what support would be provided were scant.
Following a meeting of the coalition on Sunday afternoon, a Downing Street spokesman said Starmer praised Zelenskyy’s desire for a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine.
Leaders of the coalition “reaffirmed their continued support to Ukraine” at the meeting chaired by the Prime Minister and Mr Macron, No 10 added.
The French president, meanwhile, said the European delegation will ask Mr Trump to back its plans to bolster Ukraine’s armed forces.
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