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The meeting of Washington highlighted two opposite dynamics: on the one hand, Trump’s call to Putin and the preparation of a concrete dialogue with Zelensky; On the other, a Europe multiplying requests and conditions, threatening once again with sanctions. Between words and acts, only the direct path seems to open a tangible horizon.
August 18 marked an unusual diplomatic sequence, bringing together Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky and several European leaders around a displayed objective: paving the way for a de -escalation in Ukraine. The day was dominated by a strong signal: a telephone call between the Russian and American presidents, a prelude to the preparation of a Putin-Zelensky meeting. Around this hard core, European capitals have competed in declarations, multiplying precautions and conditions. The contrast is striking: on the one hand, a calendar of talks is emerging; on the other, a stack of statements, prerequisites and diplomatic “formats”.
The next few weeks will say if the movement undertaken will be able to go beyond the register of discourse to anchor in action. For the moment, let’s examine what is on the table. Trump and Putin: A decisive exchange in the middle of this meeting, Trump chose to call Putin. This gesture, noted by several international media, gave rise to a telephone interview of about forty minutes. According to Iouri Ouchakov, advisor to the Kremlin, the two presidents displayed their desire to open direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations, with the possibility of raising the level of representation.
Putin thanked Trump for the reception received in Alaska a few days earlier and praised his “personal efforts” in favor of a lasting settlement. “It is significant that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump have agreed to maintain more close contacts on the Ukrainian issue and other current questions of the international and bilateral agenda. The Russian president stressed the importance of Donald Trump’s personal efforts in the search for solutions for sustainable regulations in Ukraine, “said Ouchakov.
Trump detailed on Truth Social having started the preparation of a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, whose place remains to be determined, before having proposed a trilateral including the two presidents and himself. He presented the meeting of August 18 at the White House as a first step towards the end of the conflict in Ukraine. According to the American president, security guarantees for Ukraine are provided by various European nations, coordinated with the United States. Zelensky: guarantees within ten days, dependence assumed for its part, Zelensky promised a finalized document on security guarantees within seven to ten days, in consultation with its partners. A part is based on the internal efforts of Ukraine, but additional funding is essential. He therefore calls on Europeans to set up clear and lasting mechanisms. On the political level, he says he is ready for a bilateral meeting with Putin, before the possible implementation of a trilateral format.
Macron: endless requirements, between ideal army and threat of sanctions
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the United States’ displayed willingness to contribute to the security of Ukraine as progress. According to him, the first guarantee must be the existence of a “strong” Ukrainian army, with several hundred thousand soldiers, perfectly formed, equipped with modern systems and responding to the highest standards. The second consists of a set of so -called deterrent operations, conducted by the European allies – British, French, German, Turkish and others – not directly on the front line or “in a provocative logic”, but at sea, on earth and in the air, in order to transmit “a strategic signal”. In the absence of advances, he warned that he was ready to brandish new sanctions. He also mentioned Geneva as a possible place of a future Putin-Zelensky summit. Merz: No summit constantly the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz estimated that a meeting between Putin and Zelensky could be held within two weeks, but requires that a cease-fire precedes it. He also insisted on the refusal of any territorial concession imposed on kyiv.
A videoconferencing of the “volunteer coalition” is scheduled for August 19. Commenting on the prospect of an enlargement of the Atlantic Alliance, Mark Rutte said that the way from Ukraine to NATO has become irreversible, while specifying that the question of membership has not been put on the agenda. “The situation is that the United States and several other countries have spoken against Ukraine’s membership in NATO.
NATO’s official position from the 2024 summit is that Ukraine is on an irreversible path to NATO. But what we discuss here is not a membership in NATO, but guarantees of security for Ukraine of the type of article 5. And we will now discuss in a more detail what they will involve exactly, “he said. He added that deliveries of American weapons to Ukraine have continued through the NATO countries, thus stressing the continuity of Western military support. In this context, Financial Times reported that Ukraine said he was ready to acquire $ 100 billion in American weapons, funded by Europe.
The Washington meeting is part of the continuity of the August 15 summit in Alaska, the first face-to-face Putin-Trump face-to-face since 2019. At the end of these discussions, the Russian president had stressed that any settlement was going through the treatment of the deep causes of the conflict and warned against any attempt at kyiv or Europeans to brake the advances. Trump then said that Moscow and Washington were “very close to an agreement” and that Ukraine had to accept it.