European leaders meeting in Washington on Monday urged caution amid growing hopes of a potential Russia–Ukraine truce, warning that President Vladimir Putin’s assurances cannot be taken at face value even as diplomatic efforts begin to accelerate.
Their remarks came just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that he has spoken with President Putin and taken the first steps toward arranging direct talks between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — a move he described as a “very good, early step” toward ending the war, which began in 2020.

The renewed diplomatic push coincides with a broader reshaping of geopolitical engagement, including a scheduled Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in China later this week where PM Modi is also expected to meet President Xi Jinping.

Europe Demands Ironclad Safeguards

At the Washington meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron emphasised that any final agreement must preserve Ukraine’s full sovereignty and refuse any proposal that involves surrendering territory.
“Ukraine must retain an unlimited ability to defend itself,” Macron said, warning against the “temptation of forced compromises once talks begin”.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz went even further, calling Russia’s insistence that Kyiv relinquish Donbass an outrageous demand, comparing it to asking the United States to surrender Florida.
“Such proposals are not peace proposals,” he said, “they are ultimatums.”

Doubts Over Putin’s Intentions

While the Trump administration cited indications that Moscow has shown “initial openness” to a security framework described as “NATO-style guarantees without NATO membership”, European officials were deeply skeptical.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb bluntly stated that “Putin is rarely to be trusted”, pointing to past examples where Russia ignored signed agreements, such as the 2014 Ilovaisk incident and the Budapest Memorandum.

“It could simply be another tactical pause to regroup,” Stubb warned.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is said to have outlined a hybrid security model that Russia appears to accept, but questions remain about enforcement and reciprocity.

Since Russia has now asked for “reciprocal security guarantees”, analysts fear that Moscow might in future use such mechanisms to justify further intervention if it claims to feel threatened by NATO or the West.

Zelenskyy Urges Transparency

Speaking ahead of his planned meeting with Trump, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed concern over the lack of clarity in the proposed security framework and insisted that “security must be functional, not symbolic.”
“We still do not know how it will work, and who will guarantee what,” he cautioned.

He was joined in Washington by several European leaders, including U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, to ensure that American diplomatic efforts remain coordinated with European interests, avoiding any perception of unilateral U.S. negotiations that could undermine Kyiv’s position.

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