Speaking at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Rutte said that he was planning to “make sure security guarantees for Ukraine are at such a level ensuring that Russia will never try to attack again.” He added that the number one security guarantee should be to first give the Ukrainian military what it needs and then to involve European militaries after a peace deal has been made The alliance leader was in the Ukrainian capital as diplomatic activity continued in Europe and North America to find some form of framework on which to hang a ceasefire or peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. During Friday’s meeting, Zelenskyy said the guarantees ought to be similar to NATO's Article 5, which considers an attack on one member of the alliance as an attack against all. "This is the beginning of a big undertaking, and it is not easy, because guarantees consist of what our partners can give Ukraine, as well as what the Ukrainian army should be like, and where we can find opportunities for the army to maintain its strength," Zelenskyy said. The Ukrainian leader also called on his country's allies to pressure Russia into "at least a minimally productive position". Zelenskyy has called repeatedly for Putin to meet him, and U.S. President Donald Trump said the Russian president had agreed to such a meeting on a call with him during a visit to Washington by European leaders. "The Russians are doing everything they can to prevent the meeting from taking place," Zelenskyy said on Friday. "Unlike Russia, Ukraine is not afraid of any meeting with leaders. Talks last week between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, which were followed three days later with further discussions involving the American and Ukrainian presidents and a number of European leaders, raised tentative hopes that progress was being made in ending a war that is now well into its third year. But despite the talks, Russia has continued to bombard Ukrainian cities and towns with drones and missiles on almost a nightly basis and has shown no inclination to make any concessions on its demands. Moscow insists that Ukraine surrender all of the Donbas region, including unoccupied territory, renounce ambitions to join NATO and ensure that no Western troops enter Ukraine. These demands, especially the one pertaining to the Donbas, are unacceptable to Ukraine while the third could scupper plans by countries such as the UK, France and Finland to deploy troops in Ukraine in the event of a deal being signed. The troops are seen as an essential element of any security guarantees offered to Ukraine under the terms of a possible agreement. Kyiv has demanded that it needs strong security guarantees to ensure that Russia does not resume military action against it.