If they lack the will to stop the strikes, how can they keep the peace?
In the long and painful arc of the war in Ukraine, a new fracture has opened — not on the battlefield, but at the negotiating table. Following a summit in Alaska, Donald Trump has proposed bypassing the ceasefire that Ukraine and its European allies have long held as a prerequisite for peace, instead entertaining territorial concessions to Russia before any binding agreement is reached. Zelenskyy, on the eve of his White House visit, warned that a Russia unwilling to halt its strikes is unlikely to honor any deeper peace, while European leaders insisted that borders cannot be redrawn by force and that Ukraine alone must decide its territorial fate.
- Russia's refusal to accept a ceasefire — offering only a vague military pause while demanding Ukraine abandon Donetsk and Luhansk — has left Kyiv holding ground purchased with tens of thousands of lives and no guarantee it won't simply be surrendered at the negotiating table.
- Trump's Alaska meeting with Putin produced a framework that alarmed European capitals: skip the ceasefire, cede unconquered territory to Moscow, and present Ukraine with a deal shaped largely by Russian demands.
- Zelenskyy is heading to Washington to face a U.S. president who has openly said Ukraine is simply outmatched, framing territorial concession not as a failure but as a pragmatic reckoning with power.
- European leaders — from France, Germany, and Britain to eight Nordic and Baltic nations — are racing to coordinate a unified position before Monday's White House meeting, insisting any deal must include a ceasefire and genuine security guarantees.
- The question hanging over everything is whether Trump's willingness to sidestep the ceasefire demand will unlock a path to peace or simply hand Moscow the strategic advantage it has been maneuvering toward since the war began.
On the eve of his White House meeting with Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a pointed warning: Russia's refusal to accept a ceasefire was not simplifying the path to peace — it was making it harder. His frustration, carefully worded, reflected a deeper alarm. Three days earlier, Trump had met Putin in Alaska and returned with a fundamentally different vision for ending the war — one that bypassed the ceasefire Ukraine and its European allies had treated as a non-negotiable starting point.
What emerged from Alaska was a proposal to end the conflict by ceding unconquered Ukrainian territory to Russia. Trump planned to present this framework to Zelenskyy during Monday's Washington visit. His reasoning was characteristically blunt: Russia is a great power, Ukraine is not, and Kyiv should accept terms accordingly. Putin, for his part, had demanded Ukraine withdraw entirely from Donetsk and Luhansk — regions where Ukraine still holds significant ground, including fortified cities whose defense has cost tens of thousands of lives — while offering only a freeze along current frontlines, not a formal ceasefire.
The distinction between a pause and a ceasefire was not semantic. A freeze would halt the fighting without binding Russia to anything, leaving Ukraine exposed and Moscow free to resume hostilities on its own terms. From Kyiv's perspective, surrendering that ground without a binding agreement meant handing Russia a victory with no reciprocal commitment.
European leaders moved swiftly to register their alarm. France, Germany, and Britain arranged a video call with Zelenskyy ahead of his Washington trip, and a joint European statement made their position clear: territorial decisions belong to Ukraine alone, and international borders cannot be changed by force. Eight Nordic and Baltic nations added their voices, insisting any settlement must include both a ceasefire and meaningful security guarantees — and that no limits should be placed on Ukraine's military or its international partnerships.
The question of security guarantees had become central to the entire negotiation. Trump signaled the U.S. was willing to provide them, a gesture Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called essential to any just and lasting peace. But the details remained unresolved — what such guarantees would actually require, and whether they could compensate for territorial losses, was far from clear.
Smaller details from the Alaska summit added texture to the uncertainty. Trump had hand-delivered a personal letter from Melania Trump to Putin, reportedly touching on the fate of children caught in the war — though its precise contents were disputed between U.S. officials and the text later made public. Putin described the meeting as sincere and useful. The coming days would reveal whether that sincerity translated into anything Ukraine could live with.
On the eve of his White House meeting with Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a stark warning: Russia's refusal to accept a ceasefire was making peace harder to achieve, not easier. The Ukrainian president posted his concern late Saturday, three days after Trump had met with Vladimir Putin in Alaska and emerged with a fundamentally different approach to ending the war than the one Ukraine and its European allies had been pursuing for more than three years. "If they lack the will to carry out a simple order to stop the strikes, it may take a lot of effort to get Russia to have the will to implement far greater – peaceful coexistence with its neighbors for decades," Zelenskyy wrote, his frustration evident in the measured language.
What had emerged from the Alaska summit was a proposal that alarmed European capitals: Trump had told senior European officials that he supported a plan to end the war by ceding unconquered territory to Russia—skipping over the ceasefire that Ukraine and its allies had made a precondition for any talks. The New York Times reported that Trump planned to discuss this territorial concession approach with Zelenskyy during Monday's visit to Washington. Trump's reasoning was blunt. "Russia is a very big power, and they're not," he said of Ukraine, suggesting that Kyiv should accept a deal on those terms.
At the Alaska meeting, Putin had laid out his demands: Ukraine must withdraw entirely from Donetsk and Luhansk. In exchange, he offered only a freeze along the current frontline—not a ceasefire, but a pause. The distinction mattered enormously. Although Russia controls nearly all of Luhansk, Ukraine still holds significant territory in Donetsk, including the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, along with heavily fortified defensive positions whose protection had cost tens of thousands of Ukrainian lives. To surrender that ground without a formal ceasefire agreement was, from Kyiv's perspective, to hand Moscow a victory without binding it to anything.
European leaders moved quickly to signal their concerns. On Sunday, the presidents and prime ministers of France, Germany, and Britain were scheduled to speak with Zelenskyy by video call before his Washington meeting. A joint statement from European leaders made their position clear: they were willing to work with Trump and Zelenskyy toward a peace settlement, but "it will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory. International borders must not be changed by force." The leaders of eight Nordic and Baltic nations—Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden—issued their own statement emphasizing that any peace deal must include a ceasefire and security guarantees for Ukraine, and that no limits should be placed on Ukraine's military or its international partnerships.
The question of security guarantees had become central to the emerging negotiations. Trump had indicated that the United States was prepared to provide such guarantees as part of a peace agreement. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed this openness, calling robust security guarantees "essential to any just and lasting peace." Yet the details remained unclear—what would such guarantees actually entail, and would they be enough to compensate Ukraine for territorial losses?
Meanwhile, other details from the summit were surfacing. Trump had hand-delivered a personal letter from First Lady Melania Trump to Putin, reportedly addressing the plight of children caught in the war. The letter's contents were disputed: Trump administration officials told Reuters it mentioned the abduction of Ukrainian children to Russia, but the text later posted by Fox News made no such reference. Putin, for his part, characterized the Alaska meeting as "useful and timely," telling the Russian news agency Tass that his conversation with Trump had been "sincere and substantive."
The stakes of the coming days were enormous. Zelenskyy would arrive in Washington to find Trump proposing a fundamentally different negotiating framework than the one the United States had supported until now. European leaders were scrambling to coordinate a response. And Russia, having refused to commit to a ceasefire, held the initiative—able to demand territorial concessions while offering only a military pause. The question now was whether Trump's willingness to bypass the ceasefire demand would accelerate a peace deal or simply hand Moscow the upper hand it had been seeking all along.
Notable Quotes
If they lack the will to carry out a simple order to stop the strikes, it may take a lot of effort to get Russia to have the will to implement far greater – peaceful coexistence with its neighbors for decades.— Volodymyr Zelenskyy
It will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory. International borders must not be changed by force.— Joint statement from European leaders
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does Zelenskyy care so much about the ceasefire coming first? Why not just negotiate the peace deal directly?
Because a ceasefire is a mutual commitment to stop fighting. Without it, Russia can keep attacking while you're negotiating. It's the difference between a pause and a promise.
And Trump is saying skip the pause, go straight to the deal?
Yes. He's saying Russia is too powerful to make demands of, so Ukraine should negotiate from weakness. Zelenskyy is saying that's backwards—if Russia won't even stop shooting, how can you trust them to keep a peace agreement?
What does Putin actually want?
He wants Ukraine out of Donetsk and Luhansk entirely. But he's only offering a freeze where the fighting stops, not a real ceasefire. He keeps the option to resume whenever he wants.
So Ukraine would lose territory and get nothing binding in return?
Exactly. And those territories include cities like Kramatorsk that Ukraine still controls. Tens of thousands died defending those positions.
What are the Europeans saying?
They're saying Ukraine gets to decide its own fate, borders can't change by force, and any deal needs real security guarantees. They're trying to hold the line while Trump rewrites the rules.
Can they actually stop Trump?
No. But they can make clear they won't support a deal they see as unjust. That matters for what comes after the war ends.