Volodymyr Zelenskyy stood at Lafayette Park, framed by cameras and fatigue. His day had begun behind the colonnades of the White House with Donald Trump, stretched into meetings with Europeans. He was supposed to brief the press at the Hay-Adams hotel, but the Secret Service closed it off. “Not enough room,” they told us.
Zelenskyy said he discussed security guarantees with Trump and European leaders. While the date for the meeting is not set yet, the leader of Ukraine said that he is ready for any format to meet with Putin.
“I believe unconditionally we should meet and think about the further development of this path to the end of the war,” he said. Zelenskyy noted that in the Trump-Putin call, Russia first offered a bilateral meeting with Ukraine with a trilateral meeting to follow.
As the leaders left the White House, they fanned out to their own enclaves across Washington. Emmanuel Macron addressed reporters at the French residence. Friedrich Merz briefed the press at the Willard where he said Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to meet Zelensky within the next two weeks. Alexander Stubb spoke at the Finnish embassy.
Each delegation spoke to its own journalists, retreating into its own language, its own ZIP code.
Trump took no questions, save for a slip of a hot mic: “I think he wants to make a deal for me. Do you understand? As crazy as it sounds.” The remark cut through the day’s formalities. Trump has decided that the deal will carry his name.
Six months after their Oval Office bust-up, the Ukrainian and U.S. presidents were back in Washington, this time all smiles. Everyone knew Trump’s mantra — “there is no deal until the deal” — and many suspected Zelenskyy would be asked to hand over the Donbas to Russia. Publicly, the leaders insisted that no territorial plan had been discussed, that such matters would have to be settled directly between Moscow and Kyiv. Hard to believe, perhaps — but just as likely part of the strategy to increase the odds of getting Zelenskyy and Putin into the same room.
The presence of Starmer, Macron, Scholz and von der Leyen in Washington was not about shifting the outcome but about being seen. They came to signal support for Zelenskyy, but also to remind the White House and their voters that Europe still has a seat at the table. The truth is less comforting: after the Alaska summit between Trump and Putin, the architecture of the deal is already in motion.
What was once Europe’s red line — NATO membership for Ukraine — is now traded away for “security guarantees.” Language that not long ago meant capitulation is now the framework of compromise.
The center of gravity has narrowed to Washington and Moscow. The Europeans can observe. They can endorse. They cannot dictate.
Zelenskyy said there are plans for Ukraine to buy $90 billion in American weapons, financed through European funding, as part of the guarantees. He also hinted at Ukraine manufacturing drones, some of which would be purchased by the United States. A formal agreement, he said, is expected within the next week to 10 days.
A “security guarantee” to stop Russia from launching its next war has become the currency of diplomacy. Peace is now spoken of as possible, with Putin signaling he would accept such terms for Ukraine.
Von der Leyen’s remarks echoed Trump’s formula. “Stop the killing. This is really our common interest,” she said. Giorgia Meloni admitted, “Something has changed thanks to you.” Merz struck a cautious note: “The next step will be the more complicated one. We all would like to see the ceasefire.” Rutte, by contrast, leaned into optimism: “If we play this well we could end this and we have to end this.”
At the multilateral meeting, Trump sat at the head of the table and dispensed compliments like favors. Starmer, whose holiday in Scotland had barely begun before being overtaken by events, was introduced as “my friend.” “People like him a lot,” Trump said. Macron was “the first I met as foreign dignitary… I liked him from day one.” Meloni was “a great leader.” Merz was “a very strong leader.” Rutte, in Trump’s idiosyncratic phrasing, “you look better than I’ve never see your look.” Von der Leyen, he said, was “somebody we just made a big deal with.”
The Europeans smiled through it. The man they once sought to outmaneuver now sets the tone.
“We had a very good conversation,” said Zelenskyy. Then he voiced the line that made the stakes plain: “Security in Ukraine depends of the United States. It’s important that the United States gives such strong signals.”
Zelenskyy knows, perhaps better than anyone, that his options are dwindling. If he refuses the deal Trump offers, Trump will simply walk away. Europe cannot help him without America. Realpolitik is playing out for the whole world to see. For Trump, the achievement is stark: in just a few days, he has brought everyone to agree with him, and the script has been rewritten. Trump may end up in the end getting a Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump has positioned himself as the indispensable broker. He will present the deal as his triumph, a breakthrough his predecessors could not achieve. For Zelenskyy, that means accepting a settlement that may fall short of the aspirations he once declared absolute. For Europe, it means bowing before a process they can no longer command.
What unfolded in Washington today was not merely a round of diplomacy. It was a demonstration of where power now resides. Trump has cast himself as the rainmaker, the figure who can summon or withhold the storm, who can decide whether talks drift into stalemate or move toward settlement.
The Ukraine peace deal, if it comes, will not be Europe’s, nor Zelenskyy’s, nor even Putin’s to claim. It will be Trump’s.
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