A seasoned professional in the field leaned toward me before the one-hour press conference at Stansted Airport and said, “This may be the most important conference you and I will ever attend in our careers.”
This sentence summed up how important the situation was as we waited for the president.
Possible the most important choices for Europe’s safety and well-being since the end of the Second World War will be made in the next few days.
There were a lot of people in the meeting room, and the noise from the planes above made the water in our glasses shake.
When President Zelensky walked in, everyone took a deep breath and there was a short, almost unnoticeable pause. Then there were nods of agreement to show that he was there.
We were surprised that he seemed calmer than we thought he would after what must have been a terrible week. Even as they laughed and smiled and talked, he stayed firm in how serious his answers were.
After talking with President Trump not long ago, this man was not ready to make big concessions. The only thing that made him feel bad was when the president of the United States asked him if he would “apologize.” He skillfully dodged the question.
He didn’t show any signs of giving up; instead, he had a steely determination.
However, our conversation did not lead to a clear next step. There was no clear picture of what the Europeans could offer, and there was no guarantee of what role they would play in shaping Ukraine’s future security.
It was clear what was going on: the US is still the most important country for giving Ukraine the security promises it needs to keep the peace.
In my question about the occupied territories, I asked if any deal could include giving land to Russia, especially in areas that Russia says are its own, even though Ukrainian troops are still there.
Zelensky’s answer was clear:
Any peace deal with such concessions would not be peace; it would be “a forced capitulation.”
I've just been in an intimate press conference with @ZelenskyyUa.
— Francis Dearnley (@FrancisDearnley) March 2, 2025
Defiant and humourous, he said he "hadn't the right" to be depressed after the meeting with Trump.
I asked about occupied territories and peace deal propositions. It will all be in Monday's 'Ukraine: The Latest'. pic.twitter.com/42Vr33L32U
This was very important because many people think that President Putin will never agree to a peace deal that doesn’t give back whole areas that he took over from Ukraine and where millions of Ukrainians live.
Now what do we do?
The gap between Washington and Ukraine’s friends is not so much a gap as a chasm. Sir Keir Starmer may want to close it. Zelensky says he won’t agree to a peace deal that gives Moscow back the annexations that aren’t fully under Russian control. And things stand, the Kremlin will never agree to a peace deal that leaves those lands in Ukrainian hands. The Kremlin passed a law that made them feel like they were part of the borders of their own country.
There are dozens of problems like that that make making a real peace deal not only very hard for officials, but almost impossible. Some basic things that are needed for peace talks to be effective are not present; there is just too much space between the two sides. And who really thinks Putin will stop when he sees how much trouble he is making in the West?
Some people think that President Trump and JD Vance know this and are only trying to make a deal that the Ukrainians will turn down so that they can blame President Zelensky and stop all aid. Europe really wants that not to happen, but it might not be possible for it to change because it has been too dependent on the US for defense for so long and because Trump’s beliefs about the start of the war were on full show on Friday.
After shaking our hands, Zelensky said, “I don’t have the right to be sad.” He then got on his flight. She might not be, but a lot of officials are. That doesn’t look like it will change any time soon.
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