Will There Be a Peace Deal Between Ukraine and Russia?

President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, last Friday and was in contact with Zelenskyy and other European leaders while flying back to Washington, D.C. One result of the meeting and the telephone calls was a visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Monday in what has been called “a high-stakes meeting.” Also in attendance at the White House meeting were leaders from France, Great Britain, Finland, Germany, and Italy as well as the president of the European Commission.

Trump fervently desires to see an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia, and he is optimistic that there will be a peace deal. He was instrumental in a June agreement with NATO member countries to increase their defense spending to at least 5% of their gross domestic product by 2035. Many of those same leaders were at the White House on Monday.

Virginia Allen of The Daily Signal found the following five takeaways from the Monday meeting. 

1. Trilateral Meeting

If the meeting with Zelenskyy and the European leaders goes well today, Trump said, the next step is likely to be a “trilateral” – referring to a meeting featuring Zelenskyy, Putin, and himself….

[Trump called Putin near the end of the meeting, so it went well.]

2. ‘Lasting Peace’

“The war is going to end,” Trump said, later adding the peace deal between the two countries will be one designed for “lasting peace.”

“When it ends, I can’t tell you; but the war is going to end,” he said….

[Trump’s confidence at the war ending is built on both Zelenskyy and Putin wanting it to end.]

3. Postwar Election in Ukraine

Asked if he is open to holding an election in Ukraine following a peace agreement, Zelenskyy said he was….

The Ukrainian has drawn criticism for postponing presidential elections in Ukraine during the war.

4. ‘I Don’t Think You Need a Ceasefire’

“I don’t think you need a ceasefire,” Trump said, adding, however, that one might be necessary in this case, even though a ceasefire gives nations time to rebuild militarily….

Trump noted that the other peace deals he has helped to negotiate, such as the one between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan, have been just that – peace deals and not ceasefires, and he would like to see the same for Russia and Ukraine.

5. Article 5-Type Protections for Ukraine

Following reports that Putin is willing to agree to NATO Article 5-type security protections for Ukraine as part of a peace plan, Trump said nothing has been formally decided in that regard.

“If you look back, and you go back long before President Putin, it was always a statement that they would never allow Ukraine into NATO,” Trump said, adding that Article 5 protections would be discussed with the European leaders at the White House on Monday. Article 5 guarantees protections for NATO member countries, stating that an attack on one NATO ally is considered an attack against all NATO members.

Europe wants to help give Ukraine protection, and “we’ll help them out with that,” Trump said.