The main dishes to remember Ukrainian talks in Washington

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky returned to the White House on Monday to meet US President Donald Trump for new interviews to end the war in Ukraine.

Several European leaders also upset their plans to attend Reunion, a few days after Trump met Russian President Putin in Alaska for a summit that did not give a cease-fire.

Here are the main points to remember talks in Washington.

Given his last acrimonious visit to the Oval Office in February, the Ukrainian president collapsed to be collegial and load his American hosts – including a wave of six “thank you” in the first minutes of the meeting.

The last time he was in the White House, Zelensky was scolded by vice-president JD Vance for a lack of gratitude perceived for American support for Ukraine during the war.

Another discord at the February meeting – Zelensky’s outfit – also returned.

This time, Zelensky was dressed in a dark costume rather than his traditional military costume, and seemed to be well prepared with a joke when he was asked for his outfit by the same journalist who had already criticized him not to wear costume in the oval office.

After the journalist told him that he looked “fabulous”, Zelensky laughed back that he had the “same costume” as the last time, causing laughter of journalists, Trump and other officials of the play.

“As you can see, I changed,” he added.

Zelensky also tried to play Trump’s family at the meeting, handing the Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska to Melania Trump to the American Lady.

“It’s not for you-for your wife,” he said.

The delivery of the letter comes only a few days after Trump has delivered a letter from Melania to Vladimir Putin in Alaska, in which she called Putin to protect “the innocence” of children and to “feed the hope of the next generation”.

“She sees sorrow,” Trump told his wife’s letter to Putin.

“She would love to see her end. And she says it very openly, very proudly, and with great pain, because so many people have been killed.”

One of the questions asked in Zelensky concerned what he would need the United States to guarantee the security of his country. Was it troops, information, equipment?

In a moment which transmitted the feeling of urgency that he apparently tried to suppress throughout the press conference, Zelensky leaned forward on his chair and said with category: “everything”.

“We need a solid Ukrainian army,” he added. “These are weapons, people, training and intelligence missions.”

Pressed by this by journalists, Trump made several references to security guarantees for Kyiv.

He said Europe would be the “first line of defense” for Ukraine, but promised to be as “involved”.

“We will give them good protection,” said the president at some point.

It is the most decisive Trump that has ever resisted on the issue of security guarantees, which are generally considered as essential to any agreement with Russia.

On Monday, the American president said that at the Alaska summit last week, Putin accepted that there would be security guarantees for Ukraine as part of any peace agreement.

But the lack of details on what these guarantees could be formed concerning kyiv and Europe, and behind closed doors, the leaders will undoubtedly try to impress on Trump that the American deterrence must be more than symbolic.

A continuous flow of arms to Ukraine would be welcome; A promise of American boots on the ground would be even more consecutive.

Such a level of engagement can be difficult to obtain, at this stage, from the United States.

But the fact that Trump has not completely excluded it to give Ukraine and his allies hope that he could be convinced.

One of Trump’s very tuned objectives is to organize a three -year meeting with Zelensky and Putin.

Before his discussions with European leaders on Monday, he said that it was now “when, not so” such a meeting would take place.

Although it may be a business easier than defining the terms of a peace agreement, this will not be simple.

For months, Zelensky has been pushing to meet Putin. It was probably a way to prove his argument that Russia is not serious to continue peace, because he knew that Putin had no interest in accepting a meeting of this kind.

Indeed, the Kremlin refused several times this and two weeks ago, argued that the Russian and Ukrainian presidents had no reason to meet until “after the appropriate distance” between the positions of the two countries was “overcome”.

Trump hopes that the distance will now be filled by his mediation efforts.