&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Trump-Zelensky Meeting HIGHLIGHTS: Putin ready to meet Zelensky within two weeks")
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in the White House for a crucial meeting with Donald Trump, supported by several European leaders. The talks come as Trump pushes Kyiv to accept major concessions to Russia after his summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
The US president has said Ukraine should abandon its NATO ambitions and formally give up Crimea, two of Moscow’s central demands. Zelensky, who first met European leaders privately in Washington before heading to the Oval Office, urged Trump to pursue “peace through strength” and underlined the need for American security guarantees. “This is, really, the most important,” Zelensky said, adding that the meeting with Trump was “very serious.”
Trump’s meeting with Putin in Alaska last week ended without a ceasefire. Trump also repeated Kremlin talking points, saying Zelensky could end the war “almost immediately” if he wished. On Sunday, Trump declared there was “no getting back” Crimea and “NO GOING INTO NATO” for Ukraine.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz revealed that Russian leader Vladimir Putin has agreed in a telephone call with US counterpart Donald Trump to meet Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky within two weeks.
"The American president spoke with the Russian president and agreed that there would be a meeting between the Russian president and the Ukrainian president within the next two weeks," Merz told reporters after White House talks.
French President Emmanuel Macron has revealed that despite US leader Donald Trump's public calls for compromise, White House talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not raise the issue of Kyiv surrendering territory in exchange for peace.
Asked by reporters if Trump had said that concessions were necessary before any US security guarantees to Ukraine, Macron said, "No, that wasn't discussed at all. We're well away from that."
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said that any future peace deal between Russia and Ukraine cannot restrict the size of Kyiv's military. He told reporters that US President Donald Trump and European leaders agreed on the need for a "robust Ukrainian army that can resist any attempted attack" and that it would not have "any limitation in number or capacity of arms."
Finnish President Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb said that his Russian counterpart was not trustworthy. Talking to Finnish reporters, he said, “Putin is rarely to be trusted. So now it remains to be seen whether he has the courage to come to this type of meeting. Does he have the courage to come to a trilateral meeting, or is he once again playing for time?”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country's allies would likely outline security guarantees if a peace deal is secured with Moscow.
"Security guarantees will probably be decided by our partners, and there will be more and more details," Zelensky told journalists outside the White House following talks with US President Donald Trump. Zelensky added that those plans would be "formalized in some way in the next week or ten days."
In the Putin-Trump call on August 18, Russia first offered a bilateral meeting with Ukraine, Zelensky revealed.
'Ukraine is ready for any format to meet with Putin': Zelensky.
'We need not a pause but real peace': Zelensky after meeting Trump.
Most European leaders have left the White House, others are departing shortly, official said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told US counterpart Donald Trump on Monday that he is willing to meet Ukranian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, a person familiar with the call told AFP. Putin told Trump, whom he met Friday in Alaska, of his readiness to meet Zelensky during a telephone call in a break from White House talks in Washington with European leaders, the person said on condition of anonymity.
The high-stakes meetings between President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and several European leaders have concluded at the White House. The White House called a lid, meaning Trump isn’t expected to appear on camera for the rest of the day.
US President Donald Trump said after talks with European leaders Monday that Europe could provide security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a Russia peace deal, with Washington taking an oversight role.
Trump says 'began' arranging summit Putin-Zelensky summit.
“At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy. After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
East Room meeting with European leaders has concluded: White House.
Negotiations between US President Donald Trump and European leaders have resumed at the Oval Office in a “leaders only” format, Serhiy Nykyforov, a spokesperson to President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN.
Donald Trump has interrupted his talks in Washington with European leaders to call Vladimir Putin, German newspaper Bild is reporting.
Bild said the meetings are due to resume after the call, which Trump had initially said would take place afterwards.
The UK’s prime minister Keir Starmer echoes Macron’s sentiments that “we all want peace” and guaranteeing Ukraine’s security guarantees the security of Europe as a whole.
He adds that a trilateral meeting is “the sensible next step”.
French president Emmanuel Macron, notably, opens his remarks by saying: “Everybody around this table is in favour of peace”.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasises that they would like to see a ceasefire. “To be honest, we all would like to see a ceasefire, the latest from the next meeting on,” he tells Trump.
Trump says he would prefer an immediate to ceasefire in Ukraine while they work on a peace deal, but “as of this moment, it’s not happening”.
That multilateral meeting has just started between Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the European leaders at the White House.
Trump said, "We will reach an agreement" to end aggression in Ukraine. He said that, for that, there will be a need to discuss the possible exchange of territory.
'Russia agreed to accept security guarantees,' says Trump.
Donald Trump said he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin indirectly and would call him after his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
When he was asked what security guarantees he needs from Trump, Zelenskyy says: “Everything." He says he needs a strong Ukrainian army – weapons, training, equipment, intelligence. And he depends on the United States and his European allies.
When asked whether he would consider ceding territory, Zelensky said that “we need to stop the war, to stop Russia”. Zelensky added that Ukrainians are strong and that they support Trump's plans to end the war in a “diplomatic way.” He added that he wants to have a trilateral meeting.
Asked who is expected to end the war, Putin or Zelensky, Trump says “if everything works out today we’ll have a [trilateral meeting] … I think we’ll have a reasonable chance of ending the war when we do that”.
Zelensky arrives at White House for high-stakes meeting.
The White House has confirmed that five US officials will join President Donald Trump in the Oval Office during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later today.
The officials include Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg.
Zelensky will be accompanied by his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, and Rustem Umerov, the former defence minister who now leads Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council.
They’re all in place at the White House, ahead of the Ukrainian president:
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer
French President Emmanuel Macron
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni
Finnish President Alexander Stubb
Laying out the goal for the White House meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday said that the goal is to recall what unites Ukraine, Europe, and the United States, pointing to Russia.
"There can be no territorial discussions about Ukraine without Ukrainian leaders," the French president stressed.
He added that if partners are weak with Russia, they create preconditions for future conflicts.
In order to have a “lasting peace deal for Ukraine, Ukraine needs a strong army", he said, adding that European allies want "Ukraine’s territorial integrity to be respected” and that “Ukraine must be represented in any talks on Ukraine’s future.”
Macron stressed that the goal for talks is to " present a united front between Ukraine and its European allies", further warning that “if we show weakness today in front of Russia, we are laying the ground for future conflict.”
1:00 pm ET (10:30 pm IST) - Trump to greet Zelensky
The US president will greet his Ukrainian counterpart after the EU leaders' arrival. Soon after that, they will head for the meeting in the Oval Office.
2:15 pm ET (11:45 pm IST) - Trump to greet European leaders
Trump will greet other European leaders in the State Dining Room an hour after he began his Oval Office meeting with Zelensky.
2:30 pm ET (12 am IST) - Family photo
15 minutes after the greetings, the US president and European leaders will take a family photo together in the Cross Hall.
3:00 pm ET (12:15 am IST) - Trump, Zelensky, EU leaders meeting
Trump, Zelensky, and other European leaders will then head into their own high-stakes meeting in the East Room of the White House.
European leaders have started to arrive at the White House. First to arrive was NATO chief Mark Rutte. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, UK PM Sir Keir Starmer and Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have also arrived at the White House.