Focus on security guarantees as Ukraine summit leaves path to peace unclear

WASHINGTON TALKS ALLOWED FOR A TEMPORARY SENSE OF RELIEF IN KYIV

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LONDON/KYIV: Ukraine and its European allies have been buoyed by Donald Trump's promise of security guarantees for Kyiv to help end the war in Ukraine but face many unanswered questions, including how willing Russia will be to play ball.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed Monday's extraordinary summit at the White House with the U.S. president as a "major step forward" towards ending Europe's deadliest conflict in 80 years and towards setting up a trilateral meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin and Trump in the coming weeks.

Zelenskiy was flanked by the leaders of allies including Germany, France and Britain at the summit and his warm rapport with Trump contrasted sharply with their disastrous Oval Office meeting in February.

But beyond the optics, the path to peace remains deeply uncertain and Zelenskiy may be forced to make painful compromises to end the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 and which analysts say has killed or wounded more than 1 million people.