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In a statement on Monday, Zelenskyy said he and Trump had a “good” talk, addressing security guarantees for Ukraine, as the war with Russia enters its fourth year.

Zelenskyy spoke at the White House with Trump and European leaders on Monday, and he signaled that security guarantees would remain a key priority for Ukraine. “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, adding that Washington’s readiness to extend strong signals of support is “very important,” though he stopped short of defining what such guarantees would entail.

Trump spoke of security as well, but he focused on the idea that Europe should be carrying most of the burden. He added that the conflict could not be solved without talking about difficult compromises on territory. “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 gathering showed how divided Western leaders were over how to balance standing with Ukraine and a desire for a negotiated settlement. Trump’s willingness to countenance territorial compromise stood in contrast to Zelenskyy, who has repeatedly said Ukraine’s sovereignty and borders must be non-negotiable.

Calls for Sanctions, Ceasefire, and NATO Clarification

Leaders in Washington were discussing guarantees as U.S. lawmakers sharpened calls for more economic pressure on Russia and its trading partners. Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the Trump administration should be more aggressive with Moscow’s finances, specifically urging the administration to target the countries still buying Russian oil. He is a co-sponsor of a bill that would allow the Trump administration to impose tariffs of up to 500 percent on any nation that continues to conduct 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. He added that Chinese President Xi Jinping, in particular, has significant influence over Putin and must be targeted. “The second most important person on the planet to end this war is President Xi in China,” Graham said, urging Washington to use its weight to pressure Beijing into taking its hands off the conflict.

Trump has not shied from using tariffs to move nations away from Moscow, having announced in August a 50 percent tariff on India in part due to its purchase of Russian oil. Graham seemed to suggest that threatening a similar move against China could swing the conflict.

In Europe, the European Union was finalizing its 19th round of sanctions against Russia, with the new measures set to be released later this month. The bloc is expected to further limit Russia’s energy revenue, ban it from Western banking, and close key loopholes on sanctions evasion, which could significantly impact Russia’s military-industrial base. Russia is now the most sanctioned country of modern times, more isolated economically than Iran, North Korea, or Venezuela, thanks to nearly four years of coordinated Western action.

Still, sanctions were not the only issue for debate. European leaders also pushed Trump on his plan for a ceasefire before engaging in serious talks. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz argued that a temporary truce was needed to make the peace process have any credibility. “I can’t imagine that the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire,” Merz said. Trump disagreed, pointing out that several of the six peace agreements he says he has brokered in recent months were done without a ceasefire. “You have a ceasefire, and they rebuild and rebuild and rebuild,” Trump said, while conceding that the appeal of a truce would be an immediate cessation of civilian deaths.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who was inaugurated in March 2024, was also at the White House for the talks. He was openly skeptical about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s readiness to respect any ceasefire and noted Finland’s own long experience with Russia, highlighting the country’s 800-mile border. Stubb, widely seen as one of Trump’s closest European interlocutors, said: “If I look at the silver lining of where we stand right now, we found a solution in 1944, and I’m sure that we’ll be able to find a solution in 2025 to end Russia’s war of aggression.”

Beyond sanctions and a ceasefire, Trump has also been quite direct about the conditions he wants in place for peace to take hold. In a post on Truth Social, he pressed Ukraine to formally give up Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, and to drop its aspirations to join 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. He blamed the Obama administration for “giving” Crimea to Russia without a fight more than a decade ago and insisted that “NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE” must be non-negotiable.

Zelenskyy’s emphasis on long-term Western guarantees and Trump’s demand for concessions from Kyiv stood in contrast to each other, illuminating how Washington and Europe are divided over how to end the war. With sanctions expected soon, new tariff threats in the air, and fighting continuing on the ground, the path to peace remains precarious, divided between calls for compromise and standing shoulder to shoulder.