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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters on Monday that he held a “good” conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump over security guarantees for Ukraine, as Russia’s war in Ukraine nears its fourth year.

The two spoke as the conflict continues to grind on and the White House has sought to boost support for Ukraine after the Biden administration’s decision to withdraw from Finland and Sweden’s bid to join NATO.

Zelenskyy, who was in Washington to meet with Western leaders about how to end the war, said during a joint press conference at the White House that security guarantees are at the center of Ukraine’s survival and future independence.

“The first one is security guarantees. And we are very happy with President [Trump], that all the leaders are here, and security in Ukraine depends on the United States and European countries,” Zelenskyy said. He added that the willingness of the U.S. to “extend a very powerful signal” in the form of support is “very important” for Ukraine, without detailing the specifics of such guarantees.

Trump said security is important too, but much of the responsibility should fall on European leaders, and emphasized that peace would require tough decisions about the exchange of territory.

“We’re going to help them, and we’re going to make it very secure,” Trump said. “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.”

White House Officials Struggle to Square Support for Ukraine With Trump’s Call for a Ceasefire

The joint press conference was called after a meeting of European leaders with Trump in the Oval Office, which laid bare tensions among the allies about how to balance support for Ukraine with talks on a possible ceasefire.

In the days leading up to the meeting, Trump has said he is willing to support a land-for-peace deal, which would involve Ukrainian concessions. He has also criticized Zelenskyy in private, according to The New York Times, for not making concessions to Russia on territory.

Trump’s position is at odds with Zelenskyy, who, since the beginning of the war, has made clear that Ukraine will not give up on its independence and international borders. He was joined in his remarks on Monday by European leaders, including Finnish President Alexander Stubb, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Sanctions, Ceasefire, and NATO Expansion

While Zelenskyy met with Western leaders, U.S. lawmakers were also weighing in on the issue of security guarantees and debating how Washington and its allies can exert more pressure on Moscow and its remaining trading partners.

Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., suggested to reporters that the Trump administration should move against the financial assets of countries that continue to buy Russian oil. He is co-sponsoring a bill to enable Trump to impose tariffs of up to 500 percent on countries that continue to do business with Moscow.

“My advice to President Trump and [Secretary of State Marco Rubio] is, you’ve got to convince Putin that if this war doesn’t end justly and honorably with Ukraine making concessions also, we’re going to destroy the Russian economy,” Graham told Fox News. He added that Beijing wields significant influence over Putin’s calculus. “The second most important person on the planet to end this war is President Xi in China,” he said. “I think China has to be engaged in a way that will get President Xi to say, we’re not going to support Putin’s war, number one, and we’re not going to purchase Russian energy.”

Trump has already shown a willingness to use tariffs as a cudgel against Russia, announcing in August a tariff of 50 percent on all imports from India in part because of New Delhi’s continuing purchases of Russian oil. Graham said on Monday that a similar move could be threatened against Beijing.

In Europe, the EU is preparing a 19th package of sanctions against Russia to be formally announced later this month, diplomats told The Financial Times.

The new measures, under negotiation since February, would slash the country’s energy revenues by 90 percent, further restrict Moscow’s access to international banks, and further hamper the development of its military-industrial base. The measures are also designed to close several remaining loopholes in the bloc’s sanctions regime that allow for evasion. After nearly four years of coordinated Western sanctions on Moscow, Russia is now the most sanctioned country in modern history, more economically isolated than Iran, North Korea, or Venezuela.

But sanctions were not the only point of contention at the White House. European leaders also pressed Trump on the importance of a ceasefire before entering serious negotiations. Merz argued that a temporary truce would be necessary to allow the negotiations to gain credibility and buy the time necessary for a diplomatic push. “I can’t imagine that the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire,” he said. Trump pushed back, pointing to six peace agreements brokered in recent months that did not involve a ceasefire. “You have a ceasefire, and they rebuild and rebuild and rebuild,” Trump said of the truce conditions, though he later conceded the benefit of an immediate cessation of civilian casualties.

Beyond sanctions and a ceasefire, Trump has been blunt about what is required for a successful peace. In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump once again called on Kyiv to formally surrender Crimea to Russia and abandon its efforts to join NATO.

With new sanctions on the horizon, possible tariff increases, and continued fighting on the battlefield, the contours of a peace plan, caught between calls for compromise and solidarity, remain elusive.