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President Donald Trump claimed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could end the war with Russia "almost immediately" by agreeing to two major requests.
Trump shared a post on his Truth Social calling for Ukraine to end its bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and accept that there was "no getting back" Crimea, referencing Russia's illegal annexation of the region in 2014.
"President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight. Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!" Trump wrote Sunday (August 17) night.
Trump's post was shared hours before hosting Zelenskyy, along with European and NATO leaders at the White House to discuss the war in Ukraine on Monday (August 18) following his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday (August 15). The European allies' involvement appears to be an effort to ensure Zelenskyy's White House meeting goes smoother than the previous one in February in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance both barraged the Ukrainian president.
“The Europeans are very afraid of the Oval Office scene being repeated and so they want to support Mr. Zelenskyy to the hilt,” said retired French Gen. Dominique Trinquand, a former head of France’s military mission at the United Nations, during a phone interview with the New York Post.
“It’s a power struggle and a position of strength that might work with Trump,” he added.
The European allies' involvement could potentially help Ukraine from being forced into a peace deal that lopsidedly benefits Russia. Putin said he and Trump reached an agreement to “pave the path towards peace in Ukraine," however, “There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” via the New York Times.
“Many points were agreed to, and there are just a very few that are left,” Trump said while exiting the summit alongside Putin in front of reporters, though neither took questions from the gallery.
The meeting served as Putin's first visit to the United States in a decade, having been welcomed with fighter jets, a red carpet and a ride in Trump's armored car, the Beast, after previously being ostracized by the West.