Peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are moving at breakneck speed compared to months ago, as the United States and Europe seek to keep the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to act in good faith.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt emphasized the importance of speed during her press briefing on Tuesday, celebrating how European leaders were in the White House “within 48 hours of [last week’s] meeting in Anchorage.”
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“As you all know, there were many European leaders here, as well as Ukrainian President [Volodymyr] Zelensky,” she said. “They all traveled here to meet with President Trump to maintain the momentum and work toward a lasting peace.”
Leavitt cited Finnish President Alexander Stubb’s remarks on Monday as evidence that the new approach is working.
Stubb said following the White House meeting on Monday that “in the past two weeks, we’ve probably had more progress in ending this war than we have in the past 3 1/2 years.”
The White House acknowledged it is already pivoting to arrangements for a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelensky — a meeting that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said would happen “within the next two weeks.”
The planned bilateral meeting would be an astonishing breakthrough for peace after years of Putin explicitly refusing to meet with Zelensky, accusing his Ukrainian counterpart of being an illegitimate leader of a fake country.
Leavitt told the press that Putin “promised” to take part in the talks, but the Kremlin has been largely silent on the issue domestically.
But the White House is reportedly looking ahead to the days immediately following the bilateral meeting, already trying to prepare for the proposed trilateral meeting, with Trump playing mediator between Putin and Zelensky.
A White House official told Reuters that the administration is considering Hungary as the stage for what would be the last step in the proposed path to peace.
This swiftness of diplomacy, drastically more fast-paced than the ill-fated talks held at the beginning of the president’s second term, appears to be aimed at keeping Putin on the ropes.
During the first round of talks between the U.S. and Russia about ending the war, Trump was convinced that Putin was sincere when claiming to want to end the conflict.
The U.S. leader grew impatient, however, when his Russian counterpart refused to relent his offensive campaign and dodged opportunities to sit down for peace talks.
The Kremlin even accepted and subsequently broke a temporary truce with Ukraine, claiming that Kyiv fired first and therefore nullified the pause of hostilities.
Trump eventually grew frustrated with the Kremlin’s inaction, accusing Putin of “tapping us along” and saying he was “disappointed” at the lack of good-faith talks.
“We get a lot of bulls*** thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said last month.
Russian media is downplaying the role of European and Ukrainian officials in the unfolding peace process, according to the independent Moscow Times.
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However, Trump’s rapid-fire diplomacy has placed much of the responsibility for figuring out future security guarantees in the hands of Ukraine and the European powers.
The White House also expects Zelensky and Putin themselves to decide the final agreement for the trade of the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine.