President Donald Trump has engaged in a whirlwind of high-stakes diplomacy, culminating in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the future of Ukraine. This call followed crucial meetings with Ukrainian and European leaders.
The sequence of events began on August 15, when Trump met with Putin in Alaska to discuss, among other things, the possibility of future nuclear arms reductions. This was followed by an August 18 summit at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European officials.
The primary topic of the White House discussion was the establishment of robust security guarantees for Ukraine. It was after these talks that Trump reached out to Putin by phone to continue the diplomatic dialogue.
From these conversations, a clearer picture of the U.S. position has emerged. Trump has publicly stated that while the U.S. will help, Europe is expected to provide the main security assurances for Ukraine, a stance he described as the U.S. acting as “backup.”