Sh*t Show In Washington

If you haven't read 'Appeasement In Anchorage' below please do so, in it I said I believed that Trump got rolled in Anchorage in much the same way Chamberlain got rolled by Hitler in Munich in 1938, for much the same reasons. But, I still had some hope for the meeting with Z and EU leaders in the White House, I shouldn't have, what a mess, Z whining for more help, the Euro's bickering, Trump conducting a meeting that went nowhere, had no goals, or proposals, then everybody disappeared, I guess Trump called Putin but no one knows anything about the call, we didn't even find out what was discussed in Anchorage, the conservative press played it up in stateman masterclass by Trump, with greatness to come, the MSM as a convoluted mess that achieved nothing and showed how lame Trump is on Ukraine and that Putin has come out on top, for the first time ever the MSM got it right. Let's hope the memory of Anchorage/Washington fades from memory very soon, and Trump get back to winning. PG 4 CGR

The bumpy road ahead toward a trilateral summit between Ukraine, Russia and U.S.: Analysis

Calls for more pressure on Russia to end war in Ukraine rise among EU leaders.

ByTom Soufi Burridge - ABC

Key moments from Trump-Zelenskyy meeting President Donald Trump welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House along with European leaders for a high-stakes meeting aiming to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

European leaders and President Donald Trump were keen to put on a united front while welcoming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House for a high-stakes meeting, and largely did just that.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb called it "team Europe and team U.S. helping Ukraine," as he and the other leaders predictably heaped praise on Trump.

The praise was similar in tone to that of Russian President Vladimir Putin, a few days ago.

The big positive, from a European perspective, is that Trump made his firmest commitment yet that the U.S. would play a role in guaranteeing Ukraine's security in the event of a peace deal with Russia, in order to prevent Moscow from launching future attacks. "We'll give them very good protection," Trump told reporters whilst sitting alongside Ukrainian Zelenskyy in the Oval Office.

Trump has yet to state publicly what exactly that would mean and what role the U.S. would play in possible security guarantees for Ukraine, which were the focus of Monday's talks that also involved multiple European leaders.

To muddy the waters further, Russian officials, in what is a typical Kremlin tactic, appear to be putting out mixed signals on whether the Kremlin would accept the idea of European troops being stationed in Ukraine as a deterrent.

For all the broad U.S.-European unity on Monday, and the consensus that the war, started by Russia, must come to an end, there were also signs of disagreement between Europe and the U.S. on how to convince Moscow to stop the killing.

The most obvious one was Trump's swivel to the Russian way of thinking on one key point: that a ceasefire in the near-term isn't necessary, because a comprehensive peace agreement is, he argues, the thing that matters. Russia loved this idea as it buys time on the battlefield.

Previously, Ukraine and Europe were, for months, pressing for a ceasefire before real negotiations could begin.

On Monday, German Chancellor Frederich Merz planted a third way; that a ceasefire should at least kick in at the moment of a possible trilateral meeting between Putin, Zelenskyy and Trump -- which the Kremlin has notably not agreed to.

French President Emmanuel Macron backed Merz up on that concept, while Trump still didn't seem convinced and suggested otherwise.

Meanwhile, Russian officials are, in online posts, celebrating Trump's change of heart on this issue as a win.

The other point of potential disagreement was hinted at by Merz when he said, "Let’s work together [Europe and the U.S.] to put pressure on Russia."

It was telling that no leader used the word "sanctions" during Monday's meeting. Merz's comment was the only thinly veiled reference to it.

European leaders clearly believe the way to get a deal that Ukraine could accept is to pressure Russia further, and they know the U.S. is key in this.

Recent Stories from ABC News

00:05

02:0

Despite all the previous rhetoric, there's little sense of where Trump stands on this. On Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that going for more serious sanctions or other such levers against Russia now would risk blowing up the process.

Merz's comments were the most interesting among all the European leaders. He poured caution over the whole process, saying, "The next steps ahead are the more complicated ones."

That's an understatement. The broad timeline from Trump is that he and other European leaders will now negotiate the security guarantees and he then, hopefully, sets up a trilateral meeting.

After meeting with European leaders and Zelenskyy at the White House on Monday, Trump said he held a call with Putin and indicated he had made progress toward orchestrating a three-way meeting between Putin, Zelenskyy and himself.

"I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy," Trump said in a social media post, adding that after that engagement, he would join the two for trilateral talks.

Recent Stories from ABC News

00:06

02:00

"This was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years," Trump added.

Only when/if that meeting happens will the intractable issue of land be up for discussion. Trump was on the same page as the Europeans that this discussion can only take place with Ukraine present.

After a full day of meetings in Washington, D.C., and Trump stating he had spoken to Putin to set up a trilateral meeting, Merz said during a press briefing the meeting between Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy may take place within the next two weeks.

The location has not yet been agreed upon, according to Merz.

"Like all meetings, this meeting must be well-prepared. We will do this together with President Zelenskyy. I have no idea yet what this meeting might lead to. From my point of view, it would be desirable, and more than that, that this meeting would finally lead to a ceasefire in Ukraine. President Zelenskiy has also expressed that he can hardly imagine meeting with Putin without a ceasefire."

Merz said his expectations for the White House talks on Monday were exceeded.

"I won't hide the fact that I wasn't sure that today would turn out this way. It could have gone differently. But my expectations have not only been met, they have been exceeded as far as today's meeting is concerned," Merz continued. "We very much welcomed President Trump's announcement that he would give Ukraine security guarantees. These security guarantees have been the subject of long and intensive discussion."

Putin's demand for all of Ukraine's Donetsk region appears to be a virtual non-starter for Ukraine.

Ukraine has been defending that region for 11 years. The sacrifice has been huge. And if Putin were to get all of the Donbas, he would walk away triumphant. Putin's once failed invasion would suddenly look like a success.

If genuine progress is made on the security guarantees, it doesn't matter. However, a deal on territory is still way off and the risk remains that Putin could simply string everyone, including Trump, along.