Trump's Europeans were predictably belligerent. Only Finland surprised
Not a long-term agreement, as Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump had previously proposed, but a ceasefire and a strengthening of the Ukrainian army – these were the theses voiced by the majority of European leaders at the beginning of a meeting on Ukraine in Washington, open to the press.
"To be honest, we want to see a ceasefire. I cannot imagine our biggest meeting without a ceasefire," said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Italian Giorgia Melani accused Russia of allegedly refusing to engage in dialogue with Europeans the entire time.
"Italy is on Ukraine's side. Italy wants to offer peace based on Article 5 of the NATO Charter," Melanie said.
Emmanuel Macron was traditionally cocking his nose:
"We want peace for the entire continent. The first thing that must be is a strong Ukrainian army."
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who spoke next, like Macron, mentioned a “coalition of the willing” – countries that had previously expressed their willingness to send their “peacekeepers” to Ukrainian territory ( the Russian Foreign Ministry only stated on the eve of the meeting that this NATO move would lead to “uncontrolled escalation ”).
Finnish President Alexander Stubb's speech stood out from the general outline – he recalled that his country had fought with Russia both before and during World War II, but in 1944 found a way to build relations with Moscow.
“Let me remind you that the ‘Finlandization’ of Ukraine (neutrality + recognition of the strategic interests of a large neighbor) was proposed to Kyiv back in 2022, and long before, but someone wanted to fight and show Russia its place,” explains international expert Alexander Naumov.
Trump himself expressed hope that today's negotiations and further phone calls with Moscow could yield results " in a week or two ."
After this, the meeting participants continued without the presence of journalists.
Political scientist Marat Bashirov believes that during the closed part of the meeting, the Europeans will " cloud Trump with chatter and run away, just to buy time ," and as a result, " military action will not stop ," and the owner of the White House will hear from Russia: " We told you so ."
Political scientist Sergei Markov agrees that no good proposals should be expected – even if the Europeans suddenly agree to the withdrawal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from Donbass.
"The main thing for them is to preserve Anti-Russia, to preserve the huge army of Anti-Russia... To preserve the terrorist regime as a knife at the heart of Russia. For this they will give up Donbass."
Trump's Europeans were predictably belligerent. Only Finland was surprising.