Donald Trump said on Monday he was brokering a meeting between Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with plans for a subsequent trilateral session that would include the US leader himself.
The announcement followed back-to-back discussions at the White House, including Trump’s third face-to-face with Zelensky since the start of his second term. The US president also met jointly with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and other European leaders who travelled to Washington to demonstrate solidarity with Kyiv.
“Everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine,” Trump said on social media. He added that he had called Putin to begin “arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelensky. After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself.”
Trump said the broader group had also discussed potential “security guarantees for Ukraine”, coordinated between European countries and the United States. But sharp divisions remain over sequencing, particularly on the question of a ceasefire.
Merz insisted a ceasefire must be in place before further talks could occur. Trump, by contrast, dismissed the idea as a prerequisite, remarking: “In the six wars that I’ve settled, I haven’t had a ceasefire. We just got into negotiations.”
The Kremlin confirmed that Putin and Trump spoke by phone on Monday following the White House meetings. Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov said both leaders “expressed their support for continuing direct negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations” and agreed to stay in close contact on Ukraine and other international issues.
Zelensky, sitting alongside Trump at the White House, welcomed the US president’s direct involvement. “We support the idea of the United States, and on a personal level, President Trump, to stop this war,” he said. “And we are ready for a trilateral … I think this is very good.”
Trump’s latest engagement follows his meeting with Putin in Alaska last week, where he drew criticism for softening his threat of “severe consequences” should Moscow refuse a ceasefire. European leaders responded by travelling to Washington en masse to shore up Zelensky’s position.
Trump has signalled a preference for a comprehensive peace deal that could involve Ukraine conceding territory – a stance at odds with Zelensky’s repeated refusal to give up land. On Sunday, Trump said Kyiv could end the war “almost immediately, if he wants to”, but insisted there would be “no getting back” Crimea and “no going into NATO”.
Seven top European leaders joined Zelensky in Washington to push for what they described as “ironclad” US security guarantees, including von der Leyen, Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
