Trump and Zelenskyy meet at the White House again : NPR

President Donald Trump meets the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the oval office of the White House in Washington, Friday, February 28, 2025. (AP photo / MSTYSLAV Chernov)

MSTYSLAV Cherno / AP / AP

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MSTYSLAV Cherno / AP / AP

President Trump meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House today to discuss the end of the Russian War in Ukraine. But the former national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that Trump’s meeting last Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin was a “setback” for the American effort to bring peace to Ukraine.

Upon entering his Alaska summit last week, Trump said the main objective was to negotiate a cease-fire contract, and he warned against “serious consequences” for Russia if this agreement was not concluded. Trump, however, left the meeting with a different message, saying that a cease-fire was not necessary and pushing a peace agreement instead, which is Putin’s preference.

“It is a great victory for Vladimir Putin and I think that a setback for the American effort to provoke real peace in Ukraine,” said Sullivan, who advised former president Joe Biden.

Zelenskyy’s last visit to the White House on February 28 ended with a heated dispute between the Ukrainian chef and Trump. During the meeting, Trump told Zelenskyy that he should make concessions with Russia to prevent the total destruction of Ukraine.

Several key European leaders will join Zelenskyy today, notably the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the French president Emmanuel Macron and the secretary general of NATO, Mark Rutte. The United Front should prevent a rehearsal of Zelenskyy’s last visit to the White House, but it is also an opportunity to make sure that Ukraine has a say in negotiations.

Trump should insist that Ukraine concluded an agreement which would refuse him to join NATO and ask him to abandon the territory, like Crimea. While European leaders plan to influence Trump’s “swap territories” proposals, to which Zelenskyy has already opposed, and security guarantees to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine again.

Leila Fadel of NPR spoke with Sullivan about how the Trump summit in Alaska with Putin last week will shape the president’s meeting with Zelenskyy today in Washington, DC

The following interview was modified for duration and clarity.

Strengths of the interview

Leila Fadel: Zelenskyy will be in the White House with European allies. And it seems that Zelenskyy should make concessions, possibly abandon the Crimea and the hopes of NATO membership. What do you do with this strategy to ask Ukraine to make these concessions to end the war?

Jake Sullivan: Well, look, taking a step back, I think that in any real peace agreement, there must be compromises on both sides. But the real question is the following: does President Trump really seek a real peace agreement or does he actually take the team of President Putin and says that it is Ukraine who must make a whole series of concessions? It is interesting for me that there is more nervousness around Zelenskyy to come than there was around Putin when Zelenskyy is supposed to be a friend, and we know that Putin is an enemy. But it was the dynamic that was created effectively in Alaska, when President Trump overthrew his position and said he was no longer looking for ceasefies. He will no longer impose the consequences on Russia. Instead, he will exert all the pressure on Zelenskyy. And I think it plays in the hands of Vladimir Putin.

Fadel: What about this concession that they say they have obtained, so that they can offer security guarantees to prevent Russia from attacking again, something they say that Putin accepted and they called it “the game game”?

Sullivan: Well, security guarantees are absolutely essential because in the long term, what Putin really wants is the subjugation of Ukraine. It is therefore essential to guarantee that Ukraine has the means to dissuade a future Russian invasion to ensure peace. But the small characters are really important. Russia previously offered security guarantees to Ukraine and said it would be an acceptable part of a result. But critically, he said it would be part of these security guarantees alongside the United States. This is what he said in 2022. He therefore really offers real security guarantees or accept real security guarantees provided by the United States and Europe? Or is there an asterisk associated with this which means that it is not a serious proposal? We don’t know yet. Knowing Vladimir Putin, I guess that in the small print, Russia seeks to continue to destabilize and undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. And it is essential that the United States nails it before leaving to boast progress.

Fadel: This war has lasted for three and a half years. You worked under the Biden administration to try to end it and nothing worked. The sanctions did not work. The threats did not work. The deadlines did not work. Russia has continued to take land. And now Ukraine may lose 20% of its territory. Biden, and now Trump, are mistaken when experts in Russia have said that Putin will only be forced from the concession with the threat of real military defeat and that the American allies and European allies help Ukraine to fight, but not really to overcome Russia.

Sullivan: Well, President Biden has taken the position, that President Trump also took, that the United States will not enter the war against Russia with American forces on the ground. I think it was the right call and I think it’s the right call now. But the pressure works. Why did Putin come to Alaska? He came to Alaska because he feared that President Trump will increase economic sanctions, especially on oil against Russia. And he wants to avoid this. And that should tell us everything we need to know. If President Trump, alongside Europe, has really increased economic pressure on Russia at a time when their economy is weak, I think that would create more lever to get a good deal, real peace in Ukraine. And this should be the next step the United States has taken.

Fadel: But what gives you the impression that it would happen when the economic pressure in the past has not worked?

Sullivan: Well, it is because it was built. And if you look at the Russian economic official speaking publicly of how their war machine is pulverizing, now is the time, in my opinion, to really tighten pressure, especially with oil prices where they are in the world. And that will draw Putin’s attention. We saw it in Alaska. President Trump had an instinct for this. Now he needs to continue this.

Written and adapted for the web by destinee adams. The digital version was published by Treye Green.