Ukraine: Possibility and peril as Trump pushes for Putin-Zelenskiy meeting

Jack Power and Daniel McLaughlin analyse the peace negotiations

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US President Donald Trump said he hoped to secure an agreement for a trilateral meeting with Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as he welcomed the Ukrainian leader to the White House for high-stakes talks on bringing an end to Russia's war on Ukraine. Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg.
US President Donald Trump said he hoped to secure an agreement for a trilateral meeting with Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as he welcomed the Ukrainian leader to the White House for high-stakes talks on bringing an end to Russia's war on Ukraine. Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed Monday’s summit at the White House with US president Donald Trump as a “major step forward” towards ending Europe’s deadliest conflict in 80 years and towards setting up a trilateral meeting with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin and Trump in the coming weeks.

The meeting, attended by European leaders as well as Zelenskiy and Trump, resulted in one potentially major win for Ukraine: Trump’s suggestion the US could play a role in providing security guarantees for Ukraine in a post-war era.

But how reliable is Trump’s support, and what would such security guarantees look like?

Eastern Europe correspondent Dan McLaughlin and Europe correspondent Jack Power join Hugh Linehan to talk about the details of the discussions and why the path towards any sort of peace deal remains difficult and unpredictable.

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