Russian attack war: does peace move closer? The crispy points after the Ukraine summit

There is no peace in sight yet. But for the first time since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine almost three and a half years ago, a comprehensive negotiation process is emerging with everyone involved. Already on Friday, US President Donald Trump and Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin in Alaska spoke directly to each other. Now a meeting followed by Trump with the Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj and top European politicians in Washington. What did this summit bring – and what is still open?

Is there a meeting of Putin and Selenskyj?

After that it looks. The US President announced that he had started to prepare a two-meeting of the two presidents. Place and time are previously unknown. According to Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), the encounter should take place within the next two weeks. After that – according to Trump’s plan – a threesome meeting with him should follow.

Obviously, however, this plan is not yet fixed. After a phone call to Trump with Putin, the Kremlin initially did not speak of a meeting at the presidential level. Putin has already explained several times that he was ready for a meeting with Selenskyj, but he always cited as a condition that basic questions should be clarified in advance. Selenskyj, on the other hand, said again in the White House that he would like to meet Putin and also wanted Trump.

What can security guarantees look like for Ukraine?

With so -called security guarantees, states or international organizations can give a country binding commitments to ensure its protection and to protect it from external threats. In the case of Ukraine, two variants of conflict potential are primarily used:

Assessments according to the model of Article 5 of the NATO contract: This article states that alliance partners can count on the support of the Allies in the event of an attack and an attack on a member is evaluated as an attack on everyone. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte emphasized in Washington that although it is not about a full membership of Ukraine in the Alliance, Article 5-like assurances are still on the table. What they should include is now being discussed in detail. France’s President Emmanuel Macron spoke of “reinsurance troops at sea, in air and on the ground”, which could be made available by the allies of Ukraine.

For Macron, a robust Ukrainian army that can withstand any attack is also one of the necessary security guarantees. It sounded similar with Selenskyj. Rutte underlined Fox News in the US broadcaster that Russia should never try again after a peace agreement to get a square mile of Ukrainian soil.

After his meeting with Trump in Alaska, Putin had also spoken of security guarantees for Ukraine, but did not carry out this point in more detail. On the day of the talks in Washington, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Russia would not accept troops from NATO countries for peacekeeping after a ceasefire in Ukraine. With such a scenario, an escalation and the conflict to become a global confrontation threatened, it said from Moscow.

Is there a ceasefire or not?

That is completely unclear. The statements of the various actors are different. Trump had originally asked for an immediate ceasefire for Ukraine. After his meeting with Putin, who signaled no recognizable inflow on this point, there was no question of this.

Chancellor Merz now said in Washington: “I cannot imagine that the next meeting will take place without a break.” However, Selenskyj received his long -standing demand for a ceasefire that had to exist before a meeting with Putin. “I think that we have to meet without any preconditions and have to think about how this path could go on to end the war,” he said after the talks in the White House.

What about regional detections to Russia?

Russia always demanded that Ukraine recognize the loss of its own areas for an armistice. The annexed Ukrainian areas of Luhansk, Donetsk, Saporischschja and Cherson have been listed as new regions in the Russian constitution since 2022.

In a memorandum, Moscow suggested that the Ukrainian armed forces completely deduct from the areas of Luhansk and Donetsk, which are not yet quite controlled by Russian troops, as a condition for an armistice. In the Donetsk area are the strategically important cities of Kramatorsk and Slowjansk, which Kiev still holds and does not want to give up.

It is speculated that Russia opens up parts of the Ukrainian areas of Sumy, Charkiw, Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolajiw and that full control in Donetsk and Luhansk could be preserved. The future of the Saporischschja and Cherson areas is also open. They are more than 50 percent under Russian control, but Kiev continues to say in the area capitals.

Selenskyj repeatedly emphasized that the Ukrainian constitution does not allow any waiver or the exchange of land. He also said that he wanted to negotiate with Putin about territorial questions. The European allies emphasized that Ukraine had to make a decision on a waiver of areas required by Russia itself.

What is the role of Germany?

Germany is still closely alongside Ukraine. Chancellor Merz has a leading role among the European allies. He said in Washington that the planned meeting between Putin and Selenskyj had to be prepared well. “We will also do that with President Selenskyj.”

In terms of domestic policy, difficult discussions are characterized by exactly how Germany should participate in the event of a peace agreement in security guarantees for Ukraine. Central question: Should Germany send Bundeswehr troops to Ukraine 80 years after the end of the Second World War?

Merz said the scope of the security guarantees must be discussed in Europe and in the coalition in Berlin – “up to the question of whether we may have to make decisions that may be subject to mandate”. It was still too early to give a final answer. Resolutions subject to mandate means: The Bundestag would have to decide to send Bundeswehr soldiers to Ukraine.

How optimistic are the Europeans?

After the summit it was relieved. For example, Merz said: “My expectations were actually not only hit but exceeded.” He did not want to hide the fact that he was unsure whether the meeting would go out like this. “It could have gone differently.”

But there were other nuances. Finnish President Alexander Stubb told the US broadcaster CNN after the meeting that Putin’s fundamental strategic goals had not changed. The Kremlin chief wanted to see Russia as a supermower. “He wants to split the West.” And he wanted to take sovereignty to Ukraine, added the Finn, whose country borders on Russia.