Yesterday the big day for meetings….Ukraine and NATO came to visit with Donny and the Boyz…..Putin is gone (for now) and the other side of the conflict came to have their say….

Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived at the White House for his high-stakes meeting with President Trump. The US president greeted him with a handshake at the White House entrance, and, when asked if he had a message for the Ukrainian people, responded, “We love them,” reports the New York Times.

• “It’s an honor to have the president of Ukraine with us,” Trump said in opening remarks to reporters. “We had a good meeting just a while ago with the president of Russia,” he said. “Today’s meeting is very important.”
• Zelensky, for his part, thanked Trump for his personal efforts to end the war.
• Just before he arrived, Zelensky wrote that the goal was to achieve “a reliable and lasting peace” and to establish a “new security architecture,” reports the BBC.

• After the Trump-Zelensky meeting ends, Trump will greet European leaders in the State Dining Room, then meet with them and Zelensky, per the Hill. Among those present, per the AP:

  • NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte
  • European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
  • British Prime Minister Keir Starmer
  • French President Emmanuel Macron
  • German Chancellor Friedrich Merz
  • Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni
  • Finnish President Alexander Stubb

Zelensky was given the ultimatum by Donny to wear a suit and tie…..and he relented….

It was a light moment before the most serious of talks: President Trump complimented Volodymyr Zelensky’s dark suit as he greeted him Monday at the White House. “Best I have,” said Zelensky, reports the Wall Street Journal. “I cannot believe it, I love it,” Trump responded. The subject may seem trivial, but “the bonhomie evinced during the exchange suggests that this meeting could go far better than the last one,” per the Journal.

• Background: Zelensky’s attire had been a source of speculation because he wore a military-style sweatshirt—in homage to his troops—before his last White House visit, the one that ended disastrously. Trump reportedly viewed the lack of formal attire as a sign of disrespect.
• Another compliment: Brian Glenn, chief White House correspondent for Real America’s Voice, told Zelensky, “You look fabulous in that suit,” and Trump added, “I said the same thing.” At the last meeting, Glenn aggressively questioned Zelensky’s decision to forego a suit.

One very important part of the meeting met…..the suit.

Then the meeting, the very important meeting, took place and all went well(?)

President Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky have wrapped up their one-on-one meeting and have moved on to a larger meeting with European leaders. How far things have progressed toward ending the Russia-Ukraine fighting remained unclear, though both leaders sounded optimistic about the next steps.

• Trump said he planned to call Vladimir Putin immediately after Monday’s meetings had finished, reports the Wall Street Journal, and he seemed confident about arranging a three-way meeting with Putin, himself, and Zelensky. “We’re going to try and work out a tri-lat after that and see if we can get it finished,” he said, per the Washington Post.
• Zelensky, for his part, said he had a “very good conversation” with Trump about “sensitive matters including security guarantees,” per the BBC.
• Trump did not answer directly when asked if the US was prepared to send troops to Ukraine as part of any security agreement. “We will give them very good protection, very good security. That’s part of it,” Trump said, per Axios. “We’ll be involved.”
• Zelensky seemed open to the idea of a three-way meeting, at one point telling reporters that the thorny issue of territorial concessions could be worked out at a face-to-face summit with the Russian leader, per the New York Times. (Putin, to be clear, has yet to agree to any such meeting.) The Times also notes that Zelensky said, “Thank you for the map, by the way,” after his meeting with Trump, suggesting that the idea of land swaps had been broached.
• Though Trump again said he didn’t think a ceasefire was necessary before a more permanent agreement, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had a different view. “To be honest, we all would like to see a ceasefire, the latest from the next meeting on,” he told Trump, per the BBC.

Then Donny moved on to those from NATO…..

• Next meetings: Zelensky said at a press conference in Lafayette Park after the White House sessions said he’s willing to meet with Putin. He said whether Trump would join them later would depend on the first meeting, per the New York Times. He said no date or location had been set. Putin’s foreign policy aide said his boss and Trump had agreed only to have senior aides conduct direct Russia-Ukraine talks.
• Europe’s lobbying: French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and other leaders tried to cast their goals as the same as Trump’s, per the Washington Post—suggesting a ceasefire and US security guarantees for Ukraine are supported by Trump. But the president suggested the war can end without a ceasefire, and wouldn’t quite say what he might do to aid Ukraine’s defense in a peace deal. Trump again described Putin, who rejected a ceasefire at the Alaska summit, as eager to stop the fighting. Of a ceasefire, Trump told the Europeans, “As of this moment, it’s not happening.”
• Security guarantees: The Europeans stressed the need for security guarantees for Ukraine to protect against future aggression and seem to see it as important to their nations, as well. “When we speak about security guarantees, we speak about the whole security of the European continent,” Macron said, per the AP.
• Trump’s response: “During the meeting we discussed Security Guarantees for Ukraine, which Guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America,” Trump wrote afterward on Truth Social. He also generally described the day’s talks as productive.
• Territory: Trump had a map of Ukraine displayed on an easel during the meeting showing front lines and combat areas. Zelensky said later to reporters that he later had a long conversation with Trump in which he told him he did not fully agree with the percentage of Ukrainian territory the map showed as under Russian control, per the Times.
• Doubts: “I am not convinced that President Putin also wants peace,” Macron told reporters after the meeting. “His ultimate goal is to gain as much territory as he can, to weaken Ukraine.” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany returned to a stalemated issue: “The next steps ahead are the more complicated ones,” he said. “I can’t imagine the next meeting will take place without a ceasefire.

It is said that the talks were stalled while Donny ran to the nearest phone to call his pal Vlad……what was that about?

All in all the meeting was a typical meeting with Donny….a bunch of lollygagging and little substance.

And once again nothing to help end this conflict…..does any involved really want it to end?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”