LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Now we turn to Moscow to hear how the negotiations might look to Russian eyes.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Yeah. President Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed whether Western powers could provide any security guarantees to guard against another Russian invasion.
FADEL: Joining us to talk about what was agreed to is NPR's Russia correspondent, Charles Maynes. Good morning, Charles.
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Morning, Leila.
FADEL: OK. Let's start with this idea of security guarantees for Ukraine. How can we expect that will be received by the Kremlin?
MAYNES: You know, well, hammering out the contours of these security agreements for Ukraine is seen by the West as key to any future peace deal, and Trump began by saying that Putin was on board with it.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: In a very significant step, President Putin agreed that Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine, and this is one of the key points that we need to consider.
MAYNES: And now Trump has said that that could involve Europe taking on "a lot of the burden" - that's a quote - but with some American support, which is obviously quite vague. So we heard several proposals out yesterday. Some argued that Ukraine should have been - should have what's called NATO-like Article 5 protections, the idea that an armed attack against one would be considered an attack against all. Others were calling for Western boots on the ground as peace monitors. But would that include, for example, American troops? We don't know at this point. One slightly more concrete security guarantee - President Zelenskyy of Ukraine confirmed that - a Financial Times report that Kyiv wants to buy $100 billion - that's with a B - in American weapons for its own future defense.
FADEL: Now, Trump and Zelenskyy are calling for direct talks with Vladimir Putin. What's the Kremlin saying?
MAYNES: Yeah. You know, in the middle of yesterday's talks, Trump broke off for a phone call in Moscow with Putin, where Trump says Putin agreed to meet with Zelenskyy and also in this trilateral meeting. Now, late last night, Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed Putin and Trump had talked for some 40 minutes. And Ushakov said - and I'll quote here - "the possibility of raising the level of" direct contacts between Moscow and Kyiv "was discussed." So you can take that however you like. Zelenskyy later gave his version in more succinct terms. Let's listen.
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PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (Speaking Ukrainian).
MAYNES: So here Zelenskyy said Russia had called for a one-on-one meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy before a follow-on meeting that would include Trump as well. And Zelenskyy had accepted. He said that only on the level of leaders could the most painful and important issues be discussed. And this presumably would mean these discussions about possible future land concessions - or swaps, in President Trump's words - as well as the return of prisoners and children abducted by Russia. Now - but in terms of when, where - that's all to be determined. Germany's chancellor said it could happen by the end of the month.
FADEL: And how do you see these demands going over in Moscow?
MAYNES: Well, you know, as we heard, Trump says Putin is open to security guarantees for Ukraine. But I think one thing we've seen time and time again is that Trump is moving fast and operating in broad agreements, whereas Putin likes to zero in on details, which slows the process down - the critics would say by design so the fighting can continue.
I will say, I heard a lot of redlines out of - from - Russian redlines in the discussions in Washington yesterday. This idea of European troops on the ground in Ukraine - well, Russia's ruled that out categorically. Talk of Article 5-like status for Ukraine - well, Ukraine's desire to join NATO was one of the reasons Putin launched the full-scale invasion in the first place. And even Zelenskyy's calls for arms sales would seem to fly in the face of Putin's demands for Ukraine's demilitarization. So we'll see. But there's a lot of skepticism here, both from analysts and even pro-war nationalists, that Putin would or even could bend on these issues.
FADEL: That's NPR's Charles Maynes in Moscow. Thank you, Charles.
MAYNES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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