NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said talks at the White House on 18 August had "broken the deadlock" between Moscow and Kyiv, crediting President Donald Trump for restarting direct dialogue with Russia. "Without President Trump this deadlock with President Putin would not have been broken," Rutte told reporters, calling the day “very successful.” Rutte added that Trump had secured President Vladimir Putin’s agreement in principle to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and that Kyiv is prepared for bilateral and possibly trilateral discussions. The initiative, he said, could lay the groundwork for a cease-fire if the parties “play this well.” The discussions focused on a new set of security guarantees for Ukraine. Rutte described the U.S. decision to join an effort involving roughly 30 countries—co-ordinated by the United Kingdom and France—as a breakthrough. The emerging framework would offer Article 5-style assurances short of full NATO membership, and Rutte stressed that deploying foreign troops inside Ukraine "was not discussed at all." Negotiators are expected to hammer out the details of the guarantees over the coming days. While Rutte hailed Trump as a "pragmatic peacemaker," he cautioned that both Russia and Ukraine will have to make concessions before a final accord can be reached.