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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that he had a “good” conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on the matter of security guarantees for Ukraine as the Russian war on the country enters its fourth year.

“I am very grateful to Donald for this conversation. I thank all the leaders who, together with us, have been given this morning. I wanted to tell you why we are here today. The first 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 at a White House press conference on Monday. “The readiness of Washington to send signals is very important,” he added without elaborating on the specifics of these signals.

Trump made similar remarks about security, though he also noted that the burden for Ukraine must come from Europe. “The most important thing for us is the security of Ukraine, as well as the territory of Ukraine. But for this to happen, Europe must also do a lot. So the European leaders are all here, and we are also ready to go to a certain extent,” he said. “It can’t be solved without making tough decisions on territory. And we’re going to help them, and we’re going to make it very secure,” Trump added.

The presidents then focused their attention on the need for some form of ceasefire, with Trump repeatedly noting that six ceasefires had already been signed without holding peace talks, with European leaders countering that a truce is necessary for meaningful dialogue.

“The war must stop first, which means that both sides must stop the fight and put up their guns. How can we, sitting down with our weapons still up, start a sincere and difficult dialogue? Then we need to sit down for this very long and difficult dialogue,” Zelenskyy said. “I ask the President of Russia to support a ceasefire that will allow our negotiations to begin, so that we can build a strong security system in Europe, and then think about other important things. We all hope for peace and a strong and independent Ukraine, and we will do everything possible for this to happen as soon as possible,” he said.

Trump was far less circumspect than Zelenskyy about what Ukraine must do for the United States to assist in this security, however. The president and his allies, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have repeatedly expressed willingness to greenlight peace talks in exchange for territorial concessions and a Ukrainian promise to never join NATO.

Sanctions, Ceasefire Talks, NATO Access

The White House meetings on Monday illustrated fundamental differences in Western opinion on the relationship between sanctions and peace negotiations. In Washington, U.S. lawmakers like Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., renewed calls to increase economic pressure on Moscow and its trading partners.

Graham said the Trump administration should start targeting the finances of those countries that continue to buy Russian oil, including China, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Venezuela. Graham is co-sponsoring a bill that would authorize Trump to impose as much as 500 percent tariffs on those countries.

“I have one message for President Xi in China,” Graham said on Fox News. “If you don’t bring the most important player, President Putin of Russia, to his senses, we’re going to make life miserable for you.” Graham’s plan would allow Trump to impose a 500 percent tariff on goods imported from China by the end of 2024. Trump already began this process with India last August by unilaterally announcing a 50 percent tariff in part for the same reason. Graham, echoing Trump’s sentiments, claimed that if Trump were to issue a similar warning to China, the conflict in Ukraine could turn around in a matter of days.

In Europe, the European Commission is preparing a 19th package of sanctions against Russia. This will be the first sanctions package on Russia that the Commission will present under new Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The package, which will be formally proposed on September 21, will target additional areas such as energy revenues, banking access, and military production. The measure is also expected to include additional legislation on energy sanctions enforcement to close loopholes that have allowed sanctions evasion to proliferate over the past 20 months.

As of the time of publication, Russia is the most sanctioned country in modern history, more economically isolated than Iran, North Korea, or Venezuela. This has been the result of a policy of almost complete economic and financial isolation from the West that has been in place for almost four years. To an extent, both the threat and use of tariffs over the past few months have signaled a new escalation in U.S. economic pressure and isolation from the remaining countries that have refused to disengage from Russia.

On Monday, European leaders continued to sound alarms over the apparent need for a ceasefire before formal negotiations could be considered. The topic of a ceasefire was the major point of contention at the Monday White House meeting, with European leaders pressing Trump on the need for at least some suspension of hostilities before formal talks. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made his country’s position on the matter clear.

“We also believe that there must first be a ceasefire, that you don’t need to stop completely, but that there must be a real armistice for a certain period to give this first step, this first summit, real credibility. Otherwise, I can’t imagine that the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire,” Merz said. “Trump disagrees on both counts, reiterating the claim that he has facilitated six ceasefires in Ukraine without having secured an actual ceasefire with Russia at any point, “You have a ceasefire, and they rebuild and rebuild and rebuild,” he said.