Washington D.C.,August 18(HS): Hours before meeting Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump declared that any peace deal with Moscow would require Ukraine to abandon its NATO ambitions and accept that Crimea will remain under Russian control.

The remarks came after Trump’s high-profile summit in Alaska with Vladimir Putin, where both leaders signaled openness to an alternative “NATO-like” security arrangement for Kyiv. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff described the proposal as a potential “Article 5-style” guarantee, while stressing that Russia sought control over disputed Donbas territories.

Diplomatic sources say European allies fear Trump may pressure Zelensky into concessions, after excluding the Ukrainian leader from last week’s Putin talks. Nato leaders including France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz, Britain’s Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen rushed to Washington in a rare emergency show of unity, vowing to present a common front.

Zelensky, who has clashed with Trump in the past, has been urged by allies to frame his demands in terms of deal-making. The Ukrainian president insists that ceding any territory is unconstitutional and must be resolved directly between Kyiv and Moscow, with U.S. mediation.

Despite Trump’s optimism, Secretary of State Marco Rubio cautioned that a breakthrough is still distant. Meanwhile, Russian forces continue to hold nearly 20 percent of Ukrainian territory, underscoring the urgency—and volatility—of the high-stakes negotiations unfolding in Washington.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar