A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump hosts Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House this afternoon. It's a meeting that could go a long way toward deciding Ukraine's future. It comes three days after Trump and Russia's leader Vladimir Putin met in Alaska, and it's all part of Trump's big push to broker an end to the Ukraine-Russia war. In just a moment, we'll hear from a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. First, we're joined, though, by NPR's Greg Myre in Ukraine's capital of Kyiv. Greg, President Zelenskyy is bringing some allies with him today to this meeting at the White House. Who's going to be joining him?
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Yeah. Zelenskyy will have quite the entourage. Many top political figures in Europe - the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Italy, the head of NATO, the president of the European Commission. Pretty remarkable, A, that all these leaders cleared their schedules and agreed to go to Washington after the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting was announced Saturday. This is a major effort to show European unity and solidarity with Ukraine. We're at this crucial moment as Trump makes this concentrated effort to find a solution to the war. And remember, Zelenskyy's last visit to the White House in February was an absolute disaster when it descended into a huge argument with the cameras rolling. Ukraine has worked very hard to repair the relationship, and this meeting is crucial.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, President Trump was calling for a ceasefire in the war, as was Ukraine. Now, he says, that's not important. Can you explain his new position?
MYRE: Yeah. Trump sought a ceasefire for months. And on the flight to Alaska last Friday, he said his main goal was a ceasefire. He said he'd be disappointed if it didn't happen. There would be severe consequences. But shortly after meeting Putin, Trump reversed himself and said a ceasefire just wasn't that big a deal. He said the best way to end the war was a comprehensive peace agreement rather than starting with a limited ceasefire. So based on Trump's own public statements, he went into that meeting with Putin more aligned with Ukraine's position, and after those talks, he came out of the meeting more aligned with Russia's position. The key question today is how much pressure Trump puts on Zelenskyy to make the kind of territorial concessions that Putin is demanding.
MARTÍNEZ: Why does Ukraine believe that it's so important to have a ceasefire first?
MYRE: Well, this would be the quickest way to stop the fighting in the short term. Both militaries could remain in place, they just stop shooting. Ukraine says once you get this ceasefire, then the two sides can sit down and negotiate the much more complicated terms of a permanent peace agreement. According to the Ukrainians, Putin believes time is on his side. He intends to keep delaying, dragging out the war and fighting until what - he gets what he wants on the battlefield. A ceasefire, Ukrainians say, is the best way to force Putin to negotiate.
MARTÍNEZ: So how is Putin approaching negotiations?
MYRE: You know, at the Alaska Summit, Putin again raised his favorite talking point that root causes of the conflict need to be addressed. Now, this is an expansive list. Russia controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory. It wants all that and more. Russia wants guarantees that Ukraine will never join NATO. Russia wants an agreement that would greatly restrict the size of Ukraine's military. Ukraine rejects all these Russian demands. It says negotiations on these issues would go nowhere while the fighting would just grind on.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Greg Myre in Kyiv. Greg, thank you.
MYRE: Sure thing, A. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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