A two-way summit followed by a trilateral meeting is the proposed path to a deal. The day after hosting leaders at the White House, Donald Trump outlined the next steps to end the war in Ukraine, an ambitious goal that remains elusive despite a flurry of recent diplomacy.
Numerous hurdles persist, from still-vague security guarantees for Kyiv to the deeply divergent positions of the two enemies, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. The Kremlin has, however, opened the door to a meeting. The Russian president himself reportedly proposed it to Trump, stating he would prefer to see the Ukrainian leader “alone” and suggesting Moscow as the venue.
Zelensky rejected that offer. While expressing readiness for a summit in any bilateral or trilateral format, he flatly refused the idea of meeting in the Russian capital. One supported option, backed by the Élysée and Rome (as explained by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani), is Geneva. Meanwhile, the White House is reportedly focusing on Budapest, the capital of the EU’s most pro-Putin country, for a potential trilateral summit involving Trump. Well-informed sources indicate the U.S. Secret Service is already preparing for a summit in the Hungary of Viktor Orbán.
The timing of these high-stakes maneuvers remains fluid; a historic meeting between the leaders of Moscow and Kyiv could potentially occur before the end of August, a timeframe of roughly two weeks. Given the scant concrete progress achieved so far, such a short window could favour Russia, whose advance on the ground in Ukraine continues relentlessly.
Trump is pressing for an accelerated negotiation, intent on closing the deal as soon as possible. “Let them meet first: they are the ones who have to make the decisions,” the tycoon said, alluding indirectly to a potential exchange of territories, a topic not discussed at the White House with European leaders. To sway Trump, Zelensky presented him with detailed maps in the Oval Office, arguing that ceding the regions claimed by Moscow would leave the door open to future aggression. The message to Trump was that giving Putin the rest of the Donetsk region, as the Kremlin demands, would be akin to the U.S. ceding eastern Florida—a comparison that resonated with the American president. Subsequently, Trump has urged Putin in recent hours to be “realistic”: “I hope he is good, otherwise it’s going to be tough.”
“Both sides must make concessions,” insisted Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom the president has tasked with a leading role, alongside Europeans, in defining security guarantees for Kyiv. Trump has now opened the door to providing aid, including air defence systems, but has categorically ruled out sending U.S. troops to Ukraine (“you have my word”), a stance that contrasts with some European capitals like London, Paris, and Berlin.
Ukraine, for its part, is pushing for the deployment of Western troops and a binding agreement that goes beyond the financial aid and weapon supplies that have been the pillar of support so far. Kyiv refuses to sign a deal similar to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, when it gave up its nuclear arsenal to Russia in exchange for security guarantees from Moscow, Washington, and London. That agreement lacked detailed enforcement mechanisms, a deficiency Kyiv believes paved the way for the Russian invasion. According to Trump, it all began with Barack Obama’s “handover” of Crimea to Putin, which he called “the worst real estate deal I have ever seen.”
Beyond Switzerland, Austria has also offered to host a possible meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. Chancellor Christian Stocker announced the offer, citing Vienna’s “long tradition” of hosting international organisations like the IAEA, OPEC, and the OSCE. “If the negotiations are held in Vienna, we will contact the International Criminal Court (which has issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president) to clarify the matter” and “enable President Putin to participate,” Stocker added in a statement to the media.
Trump Cancels August Vacation for Russia-Ukraine Talks**
Donald Trump’s stay at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club has been cancelled due to the Russia-Ukraine negotiations. “This is usually the time the president goes on vacation, but not this president,” said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. “There was a discussion about him working from Bedminster for a couple of weeks, but he decided against it. He has a mission; he wants things to move quickly and to strike while the iron is hot,” Leavitt added.
Trump ‘Optimistic’ on Ukraine and Russia**
“I am optimistic, I have to be.” That was Donald Trump’s response to a question about peace between Ukraine and Russia in an interview with Mark Levin. “Of all the six wars I stopped, I thought this would be the easiest and instead things are complicated,” the president said. “The United States is the strongest country in the world right now,” Trump stated on the Mark Levin Show, the radio program of the conservative analyst and author.