National security advisor says Putin, Zelenskyy agree 'only President Trump could get them to the table'

Talks between the U.S. and Russia are reportedly to begin in Saudi Arabia this week, while French President Emmanuel Macron is reportedly to host what is being billed as an emergency summit on Ukraine between European leaders in Paris starting Monday. Trump said he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, reportedly doing so without consulting NATO members. 

Waltz noted that Trump spoke to Macron last week and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has an upcoming trip to the United States. 

"At the end of the day though, this is going to be under President Trump's leadership that we get this war to an end," he added. 

Among the critics of the Trump administration's handling of the negotiations was Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who said the president's inability to "even identify Ukraine as an equal bargaining power, after the blood Ukraine has shed, [is] just a shocking surrender of American values and interests." Noting how Zelenskyy said he would not be bound by any deal negotiated between Russia and the U.S., "Fox News Sunday" host Shannon Bream asked Waltz if Kyiv would have a seat at the table. 

In response, Waltz said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Vice President JD Vance stressed in talks with Zelenskyy "entering into a partnership with the United States," and being "co-invested with President Trump, with the American people going forward." 

Asked why Ukraine won't be directly part of the Saudi Arabia talks, Waltz said, "The Ukrainian people have fought valiantly. They have seen entire cities destroyed. The United States and Europe have supported this effort, but the United States unquestionably has borne the brunt of that support over the years, but now President Trump is clear it needs to come to an end." 

Waltz added that the negotiations will be driven by "key tenants," including ensuring that there's a "permanent end to the war" and that the conflict "can't be ended on the battlefield." 

"This has turned into a World War I-style meat grinder of human beings," he said, adding that economic integration going forward would be the "best arbiter of peace" and long-term military security guarantees have to be European-led. 

"When a third of NATO members still are not contributing - a third - are still not contributing the minimum they all committed to a decade ago, I think that leaves a lot of Americans questioning the level of their commitment to back the rhetoric we're seeing," Waltz said.