Trump rules out immediate Ukraine ceasefire, pushes for peace deal

Proposes NATO-style joint defence guarantees for Kyiv

ALASKA: US President Donald Trump said on Saturday Ukraine should agree a deal to end the war with Russia because “Russia is a very big power, and they’re not”, after his inconclusive summit with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, saying a direct peace agreement would end the war.

The White House and Kremlin leaders pointed to areas of agreement during their three hours of talks in Alaska, but offered no breakthrough on a ceasefire in the conflict that has left tens of thousands dead and caused widespread destruction in Ukraine.

“A great and very successful day in Alaska!,” Trump proclaimed on his Truth Social platform hours after touching down in Washington.

“The meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia went very well, as did a late night phone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, and various European Leaders, including Secretary the General of NATO.”

He said it was determined by all that the best way to end the “horrific war… is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.”

In a major shift, Trump also said he had agreed with Putin that the best way to end the war was to go straight to a peace settlement – not via a ceasefire, as Ukraine and its European allies, until now with US support, have been demanding.

Trump’s comments came after he met Putin for nearly three hours in Alaska on Friday at the first US-Russia summit since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Trump said he would hold talks at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, adding: “If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin. Potentially, millions of people’s lives will be saved.”

Zelenskiy said after a lengthy conversation with Trump following the Alaska summit that Ukraine was ready for constructive cooperation, and he supported the idea of a trilateral meeting.

“Ukraine reaffirms its readiness to work with maximum effort to achieve peace,” he wrote on social media.

But Putin made no mention of meeting Zelenskiy when speaking to reporters earlier. Russian state news agency TASS quoted Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov as saying the possibility of a three-way summit including Zelenskiy had not been discussed.

The US has proposed security guarantees for Ukraine similar to — but separate from — those enjoyed by NATO member countries, a diplomatic source told AFP on Saturday.

The suggestion was raised during a call US President Donald Trump held with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders earlier on Saturday, the source said.

“As one of the security guarantees for Ukraine, the American side proposed a non-NATO Article 5 type guarantee, supposedly agreed with (Russian leader Vladimir) Putin,” the diplomatic source said on condition they are not identified in any way.

NATO’s collective security is based on its Article 5 principle: if one member is attacked, the entire alliance comes to its defence.— Agencies