Surprisingly, Trump’s remarks ahead of his meeting with Zelenskyy came even after his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said that Moscow was willing to let the US and its European allies provide Nato-style security guarantees to Kyiv as part of a potential peace deal,

General Christopher Donahue, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, said allies could seize Kaliningrad "in a timeframe that is unheard of."

Russian leader Vladimir Putin agreed at his summit with President Donald Trump that the United States and its European allies could offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO’s collective defense mandate as part of an eventual deal to end the war,