A swirl of high-level diplomacy is surrounding the future of Ukraine, with President Donald Trump holding a series of key discussions, including a recent phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The call with Putin was strategically timed, occurring after Trump had met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders at the White House on August 18 to align their positions on security guarantees.
From these talks, Trump’s preferred path forward has emerged: a European-led security initiative. He has pledged that the U.S. will provide “backup” to this effort.
Adding another dimension to the diplomatic landscape, Trump also disclosed an earlier, face-to-face meeting with Putin in Alaska on August 15. A significant topic of that summit was the prospect of future U.S.-Russia nuclear arms reductions.