Donald Trump says Volodymyr Zelensky can end Russia’s war “if he wants to” but rules out Ukraine joining Nato as part of a peace deal.
The US president also says Ukraine would not be able to reclaim the Crimean peninsula, illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.
It comes as the Ukrainian president lands in the US for White House talks on Ukraine’s future, which will be attended by key EU leaders.
Trump’s special envoy says Vladimir Putin has agreed to “robust” security guarantees for Ukraine – including a potential Nato-style defence arrangement.
Zelensky has reiterated his call for security guarantees, after earlier welcoming the US’s “historic decision” to do so in the event of a peace deal with Russia.
It is quite possible that today’s meeting in the White House could prove even more crucial to the future of Ukraine than last Friday’s US-Russia summit in Alaska, our Security Correspondent Frank Gardner writes
by BBC NEWS
