Before his meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington, scheduled for the afternoon, American president Donald Trump demanded that Ukraine that she abandoned his ambitions to recover Crimea and join NATO. A position that aims to push kyiv to a peace agreement with Moscow, after receiving Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
Donald Trump has laid down new conditions on Ukraine on Monday: agreeing to give up Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, and put aside his project to integrate NATO. These requirements come before a series of meetings planned in Washington: first with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, then with the leaders of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, as well as representatives of the European Union and NATO.
Solidarity Europe with kyiv
Last Friday, Trump had already unrolled the red carpet to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, affirming his desire to end the war in Europe, the deadliest since the Second World War.
European leaders, expected in Washington, display their solidarity with kyiv. They intend to require strong security guarantees for Ukraine, faced with an American proposal perceived as a major concession in Moscow.
Crimea, a red line
Since February 2022, the war in Ukraine has made tens of thousands of deaths and caused millions of displaced. The question of Crimea remains a red line for kyiv, which refuses any negotiation involving the abandonment of its territories. NATO membership is considered an existential security guarantee.
The American position risks stretching discussions in Washington and weakening Western unity in the face of Russia.
The future of Ukraine will be discussed this afternoon on Monday, August 18, in Washington on Monday, in Washington at an exceptional meeting between Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky and several European leaders. This meeting comes less than three days after the summit between the American president and Vladimir Putin on Friday in Anchorage, Alaska.
The two presidents will then be joined by the secretary general of NATO, Mark Rutte, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and the Finnish President, Alexander Stubb.
