EU diplomats are pleased to see tentative support for security guarantees, even if six hours of talks failed to produce little else

Adrian Blomfield Senior foreign correspondent

19 August 2025

So, a sigh of relief from the European contingent departing Washington. It all went so much better than many had feared.

Donald Trump was good-humoured and avuncular, the Europeans flattering and upbeat. Volodymyr Zelensky came across as witty, deferential and relentlessly grateful.

The US president did not upbraid him, let alone kick him out of the White House, and spoke fulsomely about his natty black suit. “I love it,” he gushed.

Yet if the worst was averted, it remained unclear what six frenetic hours of talks at the White House actually achieved. There was plenty of motion, but little obvious movement. 

If many question his tactics, Mr Trump’s determination cannot be faulted. Having met Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, he spent Monday deep in intensive consultations with Europe’s most powerful leaders, breaking away only to call the Kremlin.

For a man usually drawn to spectacle, this was the slog of shuttle diplomacy that many thought beyond him.

Expecting a swift resolution to so fraught a war would be absurd, even if Mr Trump had promised to end it within 24 hours. But it is not unreasonable to expect a little more clarity about what exactly Putin is proposing.

So far, it remains murky. What has Russia proposed? What does Washington believe Russia has proposed? And how exactly does the US plan to ensure that Russia does not wriggle out of any commitments it has made?

Russia’s stance even on key demands – such as “denazification”, a code for removing Mr Zelensky – is wholly opaque.

Other proposals have surfaced in unofficial form only. The Kremlin is said to be demanding that Ukraine cede territory in the Donbas that Russia has not conquered in exchange for freezing the rest of the front line.

Mr Trump had signalled before the talks that he would press Mr Zelensky to yield on this point, saying the war could end “almost immediately” if he did.

Yet the US president ultimately held back, reportedly telling his counterparts that the issue was for Ukraine alone. For Europe, that restraint counts as a breakthrough, even if the path forward on land swaps remains as murky as ever.

Ostensibly, progress came on security guarantees for Ukraine. Having long argued they should be Europe’s burden, Mr Trump now says the US is willing to play a supporting role, albeit not with any American boots on Ukrainian soil.

Instead, Western diplomats say, European troops could be deployed to Ukraine with American soldiers stationed in neighbouring countries.

Trump’s circumspect offer

Steve Witkoff, his peace envoy, has floated US backing for guarantees akin to Nato’s Article Five, effectively binding Washington to defend Ukraine. Mr Trump, though, was more circumspect.

“We’re going to help them out, we’ll be involved,” was all he offered.

For Europe, drawing the US into security guarantees is crucial. But here, too, doubts abound.

The White House has trumpeted Putin’s supposed acquiescence as a concession Mr Trump secured in Alaska. Yet Maria Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, insisted on Tuesday that Moscow rejected “any scenarios” involving contingents from Nato countries in Ukraine.

Nor is there agreement on a potential summit between Putin and Mr Zelensky. Mr Trump has instructed aides to begin preparations, but Kremlin officials have so far refused to commit, limiting themselves to more general high-level talks.

By that measure, the Washington talks yielded little. European diplomats, however, see progress of a different kind. Before the summit, they feared Mr Trump was sliding towards Putin’s positions.

They now believe they have nudged him back, winning at least tentative support for security guarantees – gains they can bank even if Mr Trump’s new initiative ultimately stalls.

Meanwhile, the guns in Ukraine keep blazing, the bombs are falling, and the war grinds on beneath the talk of what gives every appearance of being a phoney peace.