By Hannah Tascione 
Photo credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Written By: Hannah Tascione
On February 12th, nearly three years after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he had a “lengthy and highly productive phone call” with Putin via social media. He shared that the pair agreed that the war must end and that they planned to begin negotiations immediately. After his phone call with Putin, Trump promised to call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to inform him of the conversation. Again, Trump shared Zelenskyy’s interest in making peace on social media and his plan to send U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance to Munich for negotiations. However, when Vance spoke at the Munich Security Conference the following Friday, plans to end the war in Ukraine weren’t his main concern. Instead, Vance focused on the “threat from within” to European democracy. In Vance’s direct communication with Zelenskyy, the pair failed to agree on the next steps forward, with Zelenskyy choosing not to sign off on the U.S. rare earth minerals deal which proposed the U.S. would use Kyiv’s mineral deposits as “compensation” for past military aid given during the Biden Administration and payment for future support. Zelenskyy instructed officials not to sign the proposed mineral deal because it lacked security guarantees and was too focused on U.S. interests.
After the conference in Munich, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Trump’s special Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia to discuss Putin’s commitment to peace negotiations. Though no specific compromises were made with Russia, the meeting did seem to further tensions between Trump and Zelenskyy. After the meeting, Trump took to social media to call Zelenskyy a “dictator.” Zelenskyy responded saying that Trump was spewing Russian disinformation. Despite these comments indicating rising tensions, Trump’s special envoy for Russia and Ukraine Keith Kellogg gave positive remarks about the Ukrainian leader after he visited Kyiv on Wednesday, February 19th.
Later, on Friday, February 28th, Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump and Vance at the White House was publicly broadcast as the men engaged in a heated conversation about Ukraine’s future. During the meeting, Zelenskyy questioned why the U.S. seemingly did nothing to stop Putin when he first invaded and when he broke the ceasefire agreement. Vance responded by saying, “Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.” Additionally, Vance criticized Zelenskyy for not saying “thank you” to Trump and stated that without U.S. support, Ukraine would have lost the war “in two weeks.” Trump’s press conference with Zelenskyy that was scheduled for later that evening was subsequently canceled.
Frustrated at being sidelined during peace talks and criticized by the Trump Administration, European leaders such as Polish Prime Minister David Tusk, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, made their overwhelming support for Ukraine known through a series of social media posts directed towards Zelenskyy. Though Ukrainian and European leadership both shared their displeasure in being absent from the negotiating table, it seems only Ukraine has surpassed that hurdle, as Zelenskyy attended a meeting in Saudi Arabia with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, where he expressed his key concerns and conditions necessary to end the war.
After Zelenskyy’s meeting with Salman in Saudi Arabia, Marco Rubio, Mike Waltz, and Steve Witkoff arrived in the country to meet with the Ukrainian delegation to establish Ukraine’s intentions of reaching peace and ensure they were prepared “to do difficult things” in terms of negotiations. The over eight hour long meeting resulted in the U.S. lifting its pause on intelligence sharing with Ukraine and resuming its security assistance. Zelenskyy also accepted a 30-day ceasefire proposal, contingent on Russia’s agreement. Both the U.S. and Ukraine also agreed to continue working on the previously mentioned rare minerals deal to ensure Ukraine’s long-term security.
As the U.S. turns to negotiations with Russia to make the next steps towards peace, tensions with Putin are rising. While talking to NBC News, Trump said he was “pissed off” over Putin questioning Zelenskyy’s credibility. Additionally, he said he was considering imposing secondary tariffs on Russian oil exports if they failed to bring an end to the conflict with a mutual agreement. The European Union has also made efforts to prevent further aggression from Moscow as they continue to support Ukraine’s defense industry. Despite the efforts of the U.S. and other peace negotiators, the picture of peace in Ukraine remains unfinished and unclear for now.