Zelenskyy set to visit Trump in Washington on Monday

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According to two senior administration officials and three sources familiar with the discussions, Trump directly engaged with Zelenskyy and European leaders by phone early Saturday morning about the U.S. being party to a potential NATO-like security guarantee for Ukraine as part of a deal struck with Russia.

“European and American security guarantees were discussed,” one source familiar with the discussions said. “U.S. troops on the ground was not discussed or entertained by [Trump].”

Earlier this week, Zelenskyy told a group of journalists that the U.S. had not yet provided security guarantees.

“The trilateral meeting, after the bilateral one, would involve the United States, Ukraine and Russia. For me, the presence of Europe in one form or another is very important, because ultimately, so far, no one but Europe has provided us with security guarantees,” Zelenskyy said at the time. “Even in financial terms — the financing of our army’s needs, which is itself a security guarantee.”

According to the sources, those protections, as discussed by the White House, however, would not come with NATO membership as part of a broader agreement. This is despite European leaders this morning writing in a joint statement that they believe Ukraine should be given the right to seek NATO membership.

“We welcome President Trump’s statement that the US is prepared to give security guarantees. … No limitations should be placed on Ukraine’s armed forces or on its cooperation with third countries. Russia cannot have a veto against Ukraine‘s pathway to EU and NATO,” the leaders wrote.

The sources tell NBC News that the security guarantees would be made in the scenario that Russia were to invade Ukraine, again, after a would-be peace deal. These are conversations that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, along with Vice President JD Vance, began engaging directly on with Ukrainian officials, including Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff to Zelenskyy, last week.

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