President Donald Trump meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the White House Aug. 18, 2025. (Alexander Drago/Reuters)
"I think that the European nations are going to take a lot of the burden," Trump said. "We're going to help them, and we're going to make it very secure. We also need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory, taking into consideration the current line of contact. That means the war zone, the war line center. Pretty obvious. Very sad, actually, to look at them and negotiating positions."
Trump said Sunday that Ukraine could end the war immediately if it agreed to cede Crimea to Russia, and abandon its bid for NATO membership. Meanwhile, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff also said Sunday that Putin has agreed to allow the U.S. and other European allies to provide additional protection for Ukraine, similar to protections included in NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense clause.
ZELENSKYY ARRIVES IN WASHINGTON, DC FOR TRUMP MEETING, URGES LASTING PEACE WITH RUSSIA
France's President Emmanuel Macron arrives to meet with President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Aug. 18, 2025. (Jacquelyn Martin/The Associated Press)
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Europe is aware that it will shoulder much of the weight of responsibility tied to various security guarantees — and acknowledged it is necessary in order to preserve each respective country’s safety.
"In order to have such a long-standing peace for Ukraine and for the whole continent, we do need the security guarantees," Macron said. "And the first one is clearly a credible Ukrainian army. For the years and decades to come. And the second one is our own commitments. All of us…You can be sure that the Europeans are very lucid about the fact that they have their fair share in the security guarantees for Ukraine, but their own security is clearly at stake in this situation."
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-europe-take-lot-burden-providing-security-guarantees-ukraine