WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump expressed hope that Russia’s war in Ukraine is nearing an endgame as he met Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron on the third anniversary of the invasion. But France’s leader cautioned that it’s crucial that any potential agreement with Moscow does not amount to surrender for Ukraine.
Their talks come at a moment of deep uncertainty about the future of transatlantic relations, with Trump transforming American foreign policy and effectively tuning out European leadership as he looks to quickly end the war in Ukraine.
While Macron and Trump made nice at the White House, their countries were at loggerheads at the United Nations over resolutions describing Russia as the aggressor in the war.
In broad comments on the state of the conflict, Trump said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin would accept European peacekeepers in Ukraine.
“Yeah, he will accept it,” Trump told reporters. “I have asked him that question. Look, if we do this deal, he’s not looking for more war.”
And Trump said he hoped that the war could end within weeks and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would soon come to the U.S. to sign a deal giving America access to Ukraine’s critical minerals, which are used in key technology.
Trump is pressing the economic deal to help repay some of the $180 billion in American aid for Kyiv since the start of the war — tens of billions of which is being spent in the U.S. to replenish older weapons sent to Ukraine.
“It looks like we’re getting very close,” Trump told reporters of the minerals deal before his meeting with Macron. He said Zelenskyy could potentially visit Washington this week or next to sign it.
Ensuring security for Ukraine
Ukraine also is looking for future security guarantees as part of any agreement. Trump, however, did not say whether the emerging deal would include such assurances from the United States: “Europe is going to make sure nothing happens.”
A French official with knowledge of Macron’s meeting with Trump said the U.S. president didn’t object to the need for U.S. security guarantees in a possible peace deal but details were still being worked out. The official wasn’t authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
At a joint press conference, Macron acknowledged that European nations must do more to bolster defense on the continent. But he also warned against capitulating to Russia.
“This peace must not mean a surrender of Ukraine,” Macron said. “It must not mean a ceasefire without guarantees. This peace must allow for Ukrainian sovereignty.”
Macron cut off direct communication with Putin after Russian forces carried out brutal operations in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha months into the conflict. But he said the moment has changed and he hopes Trump’s engagement with Putin can lead to something fruitful.
“Now, there is a big chance because there is a new U.S. administration, so this is a new context,” Macron said. “So there is good reason for President Trump to reengage with President Putin.”
Putin said Monday that he has not discussed resolving the conflict in Ukraine in detail with Trump and neither did Russian and American negotiating teams when they met in Saudi Arabia last week.
Putin also said Russia does not rule out European countries — who were dismayed that they and Ukraine were not invited to the table in Riyadh — participating in a peace settlement.
America’s foreign policy turnaround
The war’s anniversary — and the talks at the White House — come at an unnerving moment for much of Europe as it witnesses a dramatic shift in American foreign policy under Trump.
Trump has made demands for territory — Greenland, Canada, Gaza and the Panama Canal. Just over a month into his second term, the “America First” president has cast an enormous shadow over what veteran U.S. diplomats and former government officials had regarded as America’s calming presence of global stability and continuity.
Despite some hiccups, the military, economic and moral power of the United States has dominated the post-World War II era, most notably after the Cold War came to an end with the collapse of the Soviet Union. All of that, some fear, may be lost if Trump gets his way and the U.S. abandons the principles under which the United Nations and numerous other international bodies were founded.
“The only conclusion you can draw is that 80 years of policy in standing up against aggressors has just been blown up without any sort of discussion or reflection,” said Ian Kelly, a U.S. ambassador to Georgia during the Obama and first Trump administrations and now a professor at Northwestern University.
European leaders in Washington
Trump is set to hold a meeting Thursday with another key European leader, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Trump shook Europe with repeated criticism of Zelenskyy for failing to negotiate an end to the war and rebuffing a push to sign off on a deal giving the U.S. access to Ukraine’s critical minerals, which could be used in the American aerospace, medical and tech industries.
Zelenskyy initially bristled, saying it was short on security guarantees. He said Sunday on X that “we are making great progress“ but noted that “we want a good economic deal that will be part of a true security guarantee system for Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy, who said Sunday in response to a question that he would trade his office for peace or to join NATO, had angered Trump by saying the U.S. president was living in a Russian-made “disinformation space.”
In the public spat, Trump called Zelenskyy a “dictator” and falsely charged Kyiv with starting the war. Russia, in fact, invaded its smaller and lesser-equipped neighbor in February 2022.
Asked Monday if he thought Putin was also a dictator, Trump demurred: “I don’t use those words lightly.”
