President Donald Trump has declared the start of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. Ahead of the Munich Security Conference, Republican Senators say they want to make sure that Ukraine has a seat at the table.
Trump had conversations with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, emphasizing his desire to end the war. That morning, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the United States would not support Ukraine’s bid to join NATO, and said that “returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective.”
“That’s something that should be discussed by the Ukrainians,” Sen. John Cornyn told NOTUS of Hegseth’s remarks. “It’s their country. We’re not in a position to give away any of their territory.”
Several lawmakers are set to meet with Zelenskyy on Friday in Munich. Vice President JD Vance is attending the conference, as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
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“The key is to make sure that Zelenskyy and the people that have fought and died for their freedom are at the table,” Sen. Thom Tillis, who will be joining the contingent of senators in Germany, told NOTUS. Tillis said a deal can’t be reached just between Putin and Trump.
“Putin is a murderer. He’s ordered rape and kidnapping of children and resettlement. I don’t trust him, but the president does have to engage him,” Tillis said. “At the end of the day, I want freedom for the Ukrainian people. I don’t want Putin to think he’s got a win.”
Hegseth’s statements on the U.S.’s position going into these major international meetings made leadership in the Senate Armed Forces Committee uneasy.
“I would prefer we not give away negotiating positions before we actually start negotiating,” Sen. Roger Wicker, the chair of the committee, told reporters.
Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the committee, echoed Wicker’s sentiment.
“I think it’s going to be very difficult,” Reed told NOTUS. “The president has already conceded significant advantages to Russia prior to negotiations. Probably more important, the fact that it appears that the Ukrainians will not have a seat at the table.”
“Our NATO allies are going to be more than perplexed. They’re going to be concerned about the liability of our coming to the aid of anybody,” Reed added.
Going into the meetings this weekend, senators from both sides of the aisle said they expected some anxiety from American allies over how Trump would handle war talks — and his broader international economic policy.
“Obviously our European allies are a little anxious. They’re not sure exactly what’s going to happen in terms of American support, financial and otherwise, in Ukraine,” Cornyn told NOTUS. “It’s a good chance for us to emphasize that we’re committed to the NATO alliance.”
In what one lawmaker described as “speed dating for world leaders,” the bipartisan group attending the conference is expected to have meetings with many of the United States’ bilateral partners, each coming to meet with the U.S. delegation and “tell us their problems.”
Those meetings will include trade negotiations and will extend to many of those partners’ problems caused by aluminum and steel tariff increases in recent weeks.
“The Europeans are gonna be very nervous about what’s going on here,” Sen. Tim Kaine told NOTUS, specifically calling out the tariff increases on metals.
Bessent, who presented Zelenskyy with an economic commitment to Ukraine during a visit to Kyiv this week, is expected to discuss recent tariff hikes.
Ukraine and trade aren’t the only issues to focus on. The delegation from Saudi Arabia is set to meet with the U.S. to discuss Trump’s Gaza proposal. Leadership from Bahrain already met with members of the congressional delegation in preparation for the conference. After his meeting with Trump, Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein, the king of Jordan, also met with lawmakers at the Capitol.
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John T. Seward is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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