Zelensky hoped to meet personally with President Trump before starting negotiations with Russia, instead he was presented with a mainly financial deal delivered by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and he did not sign it, claims CNN.
It was during Bessent's brief visit that it became known that Trump was occupied elsewhere: he possibly had a second phone conversation in recent days with Vladimir Putin. On Saturday, Trump stated they had spoken earlier, but the Kremlin refused to confirm this.
As CNN writes, Putin had been waiting for this moment for three years, when a crack would appear in the unity of the West or when the American guarantor would tell European NATO members that they are on their own.
The Trump administration made it clear that Ukraine would not be part of NATO and would not return to the 2014 borders. Any peacekeeping forces between Russia and Ukraine would not be American, but European or non-European. The first two points were known in advance, but the composition of future peacekeeping forces was crucial. Zelensky openly demanded that Americans participate in peacekeeping, as security guarantees without America "are worthless." US Defense Secretary Pete Hegset dismissed these proposals.
Additionally, there were statements that Ukrainian aid should be turned into loans that Kyiv would eventually repay. This may have been part of Bessent's proposal to Zelensky on Wednesday. As well as the agreement on rare earth minerals.
According to CNN sources, for Trump, the war in Ukraine is something he thought he could fix within 24 hours of taking office, and that would never have started if he were in office in 2022. It is not his priority. Neither is Zelensky. The person at the top of his list of challenges is Putin. It is with him that he seeks to make peace, even though technically the United States is not at war in Ukraine.