Washington (TDI): As European leaders and Ukraine’s President all gathered in the White House, many wondered what role will the European leaders play in the talks.
Earlier suspicion was that they are here to protect Zelenskyy from Trump’s rage and to support Ukraine; something that US Secretary of State Rubio dismissed.
Prior the meetings, he was of the view that European leaders are in DC as they have long been the United States’ dialogue partners on the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Now when the meetings have taken place, the picture is clearer. The European leaders are here to work with the US on security guarantees for Ukraine, as the peace plan makes gradual progress.
UK’s Prime Minister told BBC that security guarantees will be finalized in ten days, and that respective teams have already reached the US to work on the details and technical aspects of the guarantees.
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It is still a pending matter if an immediate ceasefire is in the pipeline or the talks will head in the direction that Putin and Trump want – a long term peace plan, no matter how long it takes to reach there.
Another notable point is the absence of any consideration regarding return of Ukrainian territory that has been captured by Russia. It seems no such point has been emphasized by European leaders in meeting with Trump.
However, it is quite possible that the matter of territorial control surfaces as technical teams deliberate security guarantees with the US.
So far it seems Zelenskyy is confident about Europe’s role in the White House talks. Backed by the “Coalition of the Willing” – the 30 countries who support Ukraine’s defense against Russia, Ukraine stands a good chance to win satisfactory guarantees for times when the war finally ends.
Few analysts are also skeptical of how much Europe can win for Ukraine in terms of security guarantees, as they believe Russia’s invasion itself was a grave failure of the guarantees which existed.
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