Putin must tread carefully as European leaders' optimistic stance seems to have paid off

The mood in the White House on Monday was strikingly upbeat.

- Pjotr Sauer

The mood in the White House on Monday was strikingly upbeat. Nato's secretary general, Mark Rutte, set the tone as he addressed Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the gathered European leaders. "Let's make the best out of today," he said with a smile, before repeatedly thanking the US president for his attention to the war in Ukraine.

That ritual of praise and gratitude continued as Zelenskyy and European leaders hailed supposed breakthroughs and spoke of progress on issues that remain far from clear.

Much of what unfolded looked less like serious planning to end the conflict than a performance to persuade Trump that Russia was the obstacle to peace.

When the US president suggested that Vladimir Putin was ready for a meeting with Zelenskyy, other leaders echoed the claim until it acquired the ring of truth.

Rutte even told Fox News Putin had agreed to meet Zelenskyy, a claim Moscow has declined to confirm, instead saying that any such meeting would need to be "prepared extremely carefully".

The conversation soon moved to security guarantees. European leaders made clear they were prepared to go further than before in pledging protection for Ukraine - from article 5-style mutual defence commitments to talk of a British-backed "reassurance force" under a settlement.

But those pledges were as much about perception as policy.

Moscow has made clear that Nato troops in Ukraine are a red line, and Putin shows little interest in meeting Zelenskyy. Putin insists he is not a legitimate leader and has said that any meeting would only take place to sign a final peace deal.