by Xinhua writer Xia Lin

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could swiftly end the conflict with Russia by abandoning efforts to reclaim Crimea and forgoing NATO membership.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said, "President Zelensky of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight." "No getting back Obama given Crimea...and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!"

Earlier, Trump shared a social media post from his supporter, which said, "Ukraine must be willing to lose some territory to Russia otherwise the longer the war goes on they will keep losing even more land!"

Also on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told ABC News' "This Week" that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky must make concessions to achieve a peace deal.

In a separate interview with Fox News, Rubio said that European leaders involved in talks with Ukraine "are very helpful being in the room sometimes," particularly in providing long-term security guarantees for Ukraine.

Rubio said he hoped the Europeans would also help to push Ukraine toward a potential peace deal by "giving ideas about what accommodations can be made."

Meanwhile, Rubio did not rule out the United States imposing more sanctions on Russia. In an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," he said doing so would signal the failure of Trump's efforts to reach a ceasefire or lasting peace in Ukraine. "The minute he takes those steps, all talks stop," he said.

Presidential envoy Steve Witkoff said the White House extracted critical wins from its Friday meeting with Putin in Alaska.

Security guarantees offering Ukraine "Article 5-like protections" are the real prize, Witkoff said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." They're "game-changing," he added.

"We got to an agreement that the United States and other European nations could effectively offer Article 5-like language to cover a security guarantee," Witkoff said.

"We didn't think that we were anywhere close to agreeing to Article 5 protection from the United States in legislative enshrinement within the Russian Federation, not to go after any other territory when the peace deal is codified," he added.

Article 5 protection generally refers to the collective defense provision within NATO, which states that an attack against one ally is considered as an attack against all allies.

On Friday, a Trump-Putin meeting was held in Anchorage, Alaska, with no deal reached. Zelensky will travel to Washington, alongside a number of major European leaders, to meet with Trump on Monday.

"At the request of President Zelensky, I will join the meeting with President Trump and other European leaders in the White House tomorrow," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday on X.

At a later press conference with Zelensky in Brussels, von der Leyen said the EU welcomed Trump's willingness to contribute to Article 5-like security guarantees, adding that it was essential to have a trilateral meeting between the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and the United States "as soon as possible." ■