‘A reasonable chance of ending the war’ Trump discusses security guarantees and possible ceasefire in meeting with Zelensky and European leaders
U.S. President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Monday to discuss a path to ending the Russia–Ukraine war. The talks lasted for roughly an hour.
Trump and Zelensky were joined by European leaders who came to help advocate for Ukraine in light of the U.S. president’s meeting on Friday with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, where Trump rolled out the red carpet for the Russian president. The European delegation included French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Frederich Merz, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
In the hours before the talks, Russia launched missile attacks on multiple Ukrainian cities, killing at least 10 people in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia.
Trump personally greeted Zelensky upon his arrival at the White House, and commended the Ukrainian president for wearing a suit.
Speaking to the press in the Oval Office ahead of their bilateral meeting, Trump and Zelensky expressed hopes that Monday’s talks could lead to a trilateral meeting with Putin to bring about a “lasting peace.” “If everything works out well today, we’ll have a trilat — and I think there will be a reasonable chance of ending the war when we do that,” Trump said. “I know the president, I know myself, and I believe Vladimir Putin wants to see it end,” he added.
Trump also said that he had already spoken to Putin “indirectly” before Monday’s meeting and planned to call him “right after” his talks with Zelensky.
Following the meeting, Trump and Zelensky addressed the press together with the European leaders. Zelensky said he and Trump discussed three main issues behind closed doors: possible security guarantees for Ukraine, the importance of returning Ukrainian prisoners of war and children abducted by Russia, and a possible trilateral meeting with Trump and Putin.
Zelensky lavished praise on his U.S. counterpart, in contrast to his last White House meeting with Trump, which devolved into a shouting match after Vice President Vance accused Zelensky of being disrespectful. Most of the European leaders at Monday’s meeting also showered Trump with praise, though Merz and Macron took a firmer tone, stressing the need for a ceasefire as a precondition for peace talks with Russia, a demand Trump had seemingly dropped after his meeting with Putin.
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According to media reports, at the meeting with Trump in Alaska, Putin demanded that Ukraine hand over the entire Donetsk and Luhansk regions in exchange for a ceasefire along the rest of the front line. Trump envoy Steve Witkoff also said that Putin had agreed that the U.S. and European allies could offer Ukraine protections similar to NATO’s collective defense mandate (known as Article 5).
Ahead of Monday’s meetings, Trump claimed that Zelensky could end the war with Russia “almost immediately” and seemingly ruled out the possibilities of Ukraine retaking Crimea and joining NATO.
Asked about security guarantees for Ukraine in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump replied: “We’ll give them very good protection, very good security.” He also declined to rule out the possibility of sending U.S. troops to Ukraine.
Trump’s stance on the possibility of a ceasefire seemed to change before and after Monday’s meeting. Speaking to journalists in the Oval Office, Trump initially said he didn’t think Russia and Ukraine “need a ceasefire.” “I know that it might be good to have, but I can also understand strategically why one country or the other wouldn’t want it,” he told reporters. “I like the concept of a ceasefire for one reason, because you’d stop killing people immediately [...] But we can work a deal where we’re working on a peace deal while they’re fighting.”
However, during the press conference with European leaders, Trump said that “all of us would obviously prefer the immediate ceasefire while we work on a lasting peace.”
Additionally, Trump said that at the Alaska summit on Friday, Putin had “agreed that Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine,” something the U.S. president called “a very significant step.” He appeared to be referring to the NATO-style protections Witkoff had previously announced. The Kremlin has not commented on this reported concession.
After the U.S., Ukrainian, and European leaders spoke to the press, they met behind closed doors for roughly two hours. At one point, Trump reportedly surprised his guests by interrupting the talks to call Putin in a different part of the White House.
Shortly after 5:00 p.m. Washington time, journalists reported that the meeting had ended. According to a Ukrainian source who spoke to NBC News, Zelensky and the European leaders “are staying in Washington for now to continue talks.”
