"Everything Is On The Table"

"[The main issue is to] not allow everything to go according to Putin's plan. We cannot accept it, as an independent country, any agreements [made] without us."

"He [Trump] never mentioned in a conversation that Putin and Russia was a priority. We, today, trust these words. For us it is very important to preserve the support of the United States of America." 

"[Ukraine needs security guarantees above all] Because we are talking about security guarantees as the main point in any document on the cessation of war or the end of the war, security guarantees for Ukraine, for the whole of Europe, and Ukraine is already part of Europe and will be part of an equal European Union."  

"We need the strong support of a strong country, the United States, a strong President [Donald] Trump, we need his support and we need him to be on our side."

"It’s not two countries fighting each other, but Russia bringing war to our land and we are defending it, I think, with honour."

"A peace agreement cannot be signed in Munich, because this is Munich and the president [Donald Trump] is not here. And we remember the things that have already been signed here."

"If we talk pragmatically, not only about the defence of Europe, although I think that the defence of Europe is the priority and people are the priority, but we can also talk about it pragmatically from a financial point of view."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

 

"Just as Putin has no intention of stopping hostilities even during potential talks, we must maintain Western unity and increase support ... to Ukraine, and political and economic pressure on Russia."

"Our actions must show that we are not changing course." 

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna

Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Russian officials have made no secret how pleased they are with U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to depart from the previous presidency's three years of American policy over the Russia-Ukraine conflict. His announcement that he planned to meet shortly directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the purpose of hammering out a peace deal for Ukraine has effectively left Ukraine and European countries that have backed Ukraine following the full-scale invasion by Moscow in a quandary, i has startled both Ukraine and its European allies.

 

President Zelenskyy responded to that exclusion with the non-negotiable statement that he would not accept any negotiations relating to Ukraine's future and prospects of a peace agreement without direct involvement in any talks. At the same time, a seat at the negotiating table was also demanded by European governments that have stood steadfast with Ukraine during its ordeal with the intention of helping the beleaguered country defy the Kremlin's and its President's territorial ambition to annex Ukrainian territory.

 

According to President Trump's mindset, identifying Vladimir Putin as the sole player who can implement an end to the fighting, meant that he alone should be addressed, sidelining Mr. Zelenskyy in any peace talks, along with Ukraine's European-government-partners. That prospect, says the Ukrainian leader, is "very dangerous".

 

A major diplomatic upheaval has resulted from Trump's announcement on his negotiations decision. Following Wednesday's call between Trump and Putin during which they explored the issue for an hour and a half. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov remarked that the "position of the current (U.S.) administration is much more appealing". Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chair of Russia's National Security Council, remarked "The presidents of Russia and the U.S. have talked at last. This is very important in and of itself."

 

"The U.S. finally hurt Zelenskyy for real." Trump has found "common ground" with Putin, trumpeted Russian state news agency RIA Novosti in an opinion column. "This means that the formula ‘nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine’ — a sacred cow for Zelenskyy, the European Union and the previous U.S. administration — no longer exists. Moreover, the opinion of Kyiv and Brussels (the European Union) is of no interest to Trump at all." The Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda published a column whose headline stated "Trump signed Zelenskyy's death sentence". 

 

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine speaks to the press during a media briefing on the territory of Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

And from President Zelenskyy himself, came the admission that it was "not very pleasant" that the American president chose to speak first to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Some European governments expressed alarm  over Washington's new course of action, insisting they must be part of any negotiations, reflecting their fear that their countries could also be vulnerable to the Kremlin's ambitions of territorial expansion. 

"Ukraine, Europe and the United States should work on this together. TOGETHER", Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on social media. President Trump spoke of his lengthy telephone call with President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, describing it as "lengthy and highly productive", indicating further negotiations would begin "immediately".

"We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s nations."

"We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy of Ukraine to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now."

U.S. President Donald J. Trump

 

"[The Americans were giving Russia] everything that they want even before the negotiations."

"[Any agreement made without the Europeans] will simply not work."

European Union foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas

 

"There is no betrayal there], but a “recognition that the whole world and the United States is invested and interested in peace, a negotiated peace."

"Everything is on the table in his [Trump’s] conversations with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy."

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth

Associated Press