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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday said he had a “good” phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on the question of security guarantees for Ukraine, as the war with Russia enters its fourth year.

In remarks at the White House alongside Trump and European leaders, Zelenskyy made clear that security guarantees are key to the nation’s survival and future independence. “The first one is security guarantees. And we are very happy with President [Trump], that all the leaders are here, and security in Ukraine depends on the United States and European countries,” Zelenskyy said. The Ukrainian president added that Washington’s readiness to send “very strong signals” of support to Kyiv was “very important,” though he did not detail what form such guarantees might take.

Trump agreed that security is a priority, but said most of the burden for it should be assumed by Europe. He also argued that a lasting peace will require painful negotiations over territory. “We’re going to help them, and we’re going to make it very secure,” Trump said. “We also need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory, taking into consideration the current line of contact. That means the war zone, the war line center.”

The West Divided over Ukraine Guarantees

Monday’s White House meeting underscored deep divisions among European and American leaders over how to weigh continued support for Ukraine against negotiations for peace. Trump has shown a greater willingness than others in Washington to allow Ukrainian territorial concessions, while Zelenskyy has insisted Ukraine will never cede its sovereignty and internationally recognized borders.

Sanctions, Ceasefire, and the NATO Question

Leaders in Washington on Monday also discussed potential security guarantees as U.S. lawmakers sharpened calls for economic action against Moscow and its trading partners. Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the Trump administration should be more aggressive against Russian finances, including by targeting countries still buying Russian oil. He is also co-sponsoring legislation that would allow Trump to impose tariffs of up to 500 percent on nations that do business with Moscow.

“My advice to President Trump and [Secretary of State Marco Rubio] is, you’ve got to convince Putin that if this war doesn’t end justly and honorably with Ukraine making concessions also, we’re going to destroy the Russian economy,” Graham said on Fox News. He added that one of the key players in Russia’s conflict with Ukraine is China. “The second most important person on the planet to end this war is President Xi in China,” Graham said, calling on Washington to ramp up pressure on Beijing to withdraw its support for Putin.

Trump has already signaled his willingness to weaponize tariffs, having announced in August a 50 percent tariff on India in part due to New Delhi’s oil purchases from Moscow. Graham suggested that a similar threat against China could rapidly change the calculus of the conflict.

In the EU, a 19th round of sanctions against Russia is being prepared by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The latest measures, to be released later this month, aim to increase pressure on Russia’s energy revenues, cut off its banks from the international financial system, and restrict its military-industrial complex, while also seeking to close remaining loopholes allowing for sanctions evasion. After nearly four years of joint Western action, Russia is now the most sanctioned country in the modern world, more economically isolated than Iran, North Korea, or Venezuela.

Sanctions are not the only area of contention, however. European leaders also pushed Trump on the need for a ceasefire before any negotiations can begin in earnest. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made clear that he sees a temporary ceasefire as necessary to give any peace talks any credibility. “I can’t imagine that the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire,” Merz said. Trump disagreed, noting that several of the six peace agreements he has claimed to broker in recent months did not come with a ceasefire requirement. “You have a ceasefire, and they rebuild and rebuild and rebuild,” Trump said, though he did acknowledge that the main benefit of a ceasefire would be the end of civilian casualties.

The Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, was also on hand for the White House talks. Having only been in office since March 2024, he was an openly skeptical interlocutor, having questioned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s willingness to honor a ceasefire, and has emphasized Finland’s historical relationship with Russia, including the country’s 800-mile border. Stubb, one of Trump’s closest European counterparts, said, “If I look at the silver lining of where we stand right now, we found a solution in 1944, and I’m sure that we’ll be able to find a solution in 2025 to end Russia’s war of aggression.”

Beyond sanctions and a ceasefire, Trump has been more than clear about the terms for peace that he is seeking. In a post on Truth Social published Monday, he called on Ukraine to immediately relinquish Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, and abandon plans to join NATO. “President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump wrote. “My view is that he gave Crimea to Russia many years ago without even a shot being fired back at all, and President Obama did nothing,” Trump continued. “NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE” must be a non-negotiable demand, he said.

The sharp contrast between Zelenskyy’s long-term plea for Western guarantees and Trump’s demand for concessions underscored deep divides in Washington and Europe over how to end the war. With new EU sanctions on the way, new tariff threats, and continued fighting on the battlefield, the path to peace looks as precarious as ever, caught between rival calls for compromise and solidarity.