Trump says Crimea and NATO are off the table for Ukraine as Zelensky lands in Washington

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky has arrived in Washington, DC, and will be joined by European leaders when he meets US President Donald Trump on Monday.

Trump is ratcheting up pressure on Ukraine to agree to terms to end the war with Russia, CNN reported.

Late on Sunday, Trump previewed the message he’ll deliver to his White House visitors: Zelensky must agree to some of Russia’s conditions for the war in Ukraine to end. The conditions he referred to — that Ukraine cede Crimea, which Russia took over in 2014, and that it agrees never to join NATO — are among those Putin has set for ending the war.

The White House has signaled momentum toward a potential peace deal to end Russia’s war, with US envoy Steve Witkoff telling CNN that Putin has agreed to allow US security guarantees for Ukraine and made concessions on “land swaps,” according to CNN.

Zelensky said he is confident that he can obtain security guarantees for Ukraine. He suggested new security guarantees would need to be stronger than those that “didn’t work” in the past, citing the loss of Crimea to Russia in 2014. Zelensky is scheduled to meet Trump for bilateral talks in the Oval Office before joining European leaders for broader discussions.