Donald Trump has stepped up pressure on Zelensky ahead of Aug. 18 peace talks in Washington with European leaders, saying on Truth Social that the Ukrainian president could end the war "almost immediately.

By Idrees Ali and Sabine Siebold (Reuters) -NATO military leaders are expected to meet on Wednesday to discuss Ukraine and the way forward, U.S. and NATO officials said on Tuesday, as Washington and European capitals work out details of what security guarantees might look like for Kyiv.

A group of senior European leaders and NATO chief will travel to Washington on Monday to join talks on Ukraine with US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Trump: “President Zelensky can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight."

Trump appeared to place the onus of ending the war on the Ukrainian leader, while emphasizing that Ukraine must give up Russian-annexed Crimea and its hopes of joining NATO — key Kremlin demands.

Arriving in Washington late on Sunday, Zelenskiy said he hoped “shared strength with America and with our European friends will compel Russia to real peace.”

Former Republican congressman Matt Gaetz proposed that Russia be offered membership in NATO during a monologue about cooperation between D.C. and Moscow.

Special U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff says Russian leader Vladimir Putin agreed to allow the U.S. and Europe to offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO's collective defense mandate.

President Donald Trump on Sunday night declared that Kyiv would not be regaining Moscow-annexed Crimea, nor would it be allowed to join NATO.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Monday NATO membership for Ukraine was not under discussion but that there was a discussion on "Article 5" type security guarantees for the country that Russia invaded in February 2022.