President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump expressed hope that Monday’s (August 18, 2025) essential talks with Ukrainian and European leaders on the White House could lead on to trilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The U.S. President additionally stated he would again European safety ensures for Ukraine.
Mr. Trump stopped wanting committing U.S. troops to the trouble, saying as an alternative that there could be a “NATO-like” safety presence however that every one these particulars could be hashed out of their afternoon assembly with EU leaders.
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“They want to give protection and they feel very strongly about it and we’ll help them out with that,” Mr. Trump stated. “I think its very important to get the deal done.”
Monday’s swiftly assembled assembly comes after Mr. Trump met on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has stated that the onus is now on Mr. Zelenskyy to agree to concessions that he stated may end the war.
“If everything works out today, we’ll have a trilat,” Mr. Trump said, referring to possible three-way talks among Mr. Zelenskyy, Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump. “We’re going to work with Russia, we’re going to work with Ukraine.” Mr. Trump additionally stated he plans to speak to Putin after his conferences with Mr. Zelenskyy and European leaders.
Mr. Zelenskyy additionally expressed openness to trilateral talks.
“We are ready for trilateral as president said,” Mr. Zelenskyy stated at the beginning of his assembly with Mr. Trump. “It’s a good signal about trilateral. I think this is very good.”
Mr. Trump is first holding one-on-one talks with Mr. Zelenskyy. The two are then scheduled to gather with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
The European leaders were left out of Mr. Trump’s summit with Mr. Putin. They want to safeguard Ukraine and the continent from any widening aggression from Moscow. Many arrived at the White House with the explicit goal of protecting Ukraine’s interests — a rare show of diplomatic force.
By coming as a group, they hope to avoid debacles like Mr. Zelenskyy’s February meeting in the Oval Office, where Mr. Trump chastised him for not showing enough gratitude for U.S. military aid. Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelenskyy were due to meet in the Oval Office before European leaders join them in the East Room for talks.
The meetings are also a test of America’s relationship with its closest allies after the European Union and United Kingdom accepted Mr. Trump’s tariff hikes partly because they wanted his support on Ukraine.
“We understand that we shouldn’t expect Putin to voluntarily abandon aggression and new attempts at conquest,” Mr. Zelenskyy said in an X posting before arriving at the White House. “That is why pressure must work, and it must be joint pressure – from the United States and Europe, and from everyone in the world who respects the right to life and the international order.”
Ahead of the meeting, however, Mr. Trump suggested that Ukraine could not regain Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, setting off an armed conflict that led to its broader 2022 invasion.
“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia nearly instantly, if he needs to, or he can proceed to battle,” Mr. Trump wrote on Sunday night on social media. “Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!”
Mr. Zelenskyy appeared to respond with his own post late Sunday, saying, “We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably.” He said that “peace must be lasting,” not as it was after Russia seized Crimea and part of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine eight years ago, and “Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack.”
Mr. Trump’s sitdown in Alaska with Putin yielded the possible contours for stopping the war in Ukraine, though it was unclear whether the terms discussed would ultimately be acceptable to Mr. Zelenskyy or Mr. Putin.
Mr. Zelenskyy said in a social media post he met with Mr. Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, on Monday ahead of his scheduled talks with Mr. Trump to discuss the battlefield situation and the shared “strong diplomatic capabilities” of the U.S., Ukraine and Europe. He also held talks with European leaders at the Ukrainian embassy in Washington.
European heavyweights in Washington
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte arrived at the White House ahead of Mr. Zelenskyy’s arrival.
On the table for discussion are possible NATO-like security guarantees that Ukraine would need for any peace with Russia to be durable. Putin opposes Ukraine joining NATO outright, yet Mr. Trump’s team claims the Russian leader is open to allies agreeing to defend Ukraine if it comes under attack.
”Clearly there are no easy solutions when talking about ending a war and building peace,” Ms. Meloni told reporters. “We have to explore all possible solutions to guarantee peace, to guarantee justice, and to guarantee security for our countries.”
The European leaders are aiming to keep the focus during the White House talks on finding a sustainable peace and believe forging a temporary ceasefire is not off the table, according to a European official.
The official, who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the leaders are also looking to keep pressure on Russia to end the fighting and want to get more concrete assurances from the U.S. about security guarantees for Ukraine as part of any deal.
Mr. Trump briefed Mr. Zelenskyy and European allies shortly after the Putin meeting. Details from the discussions emerged in a scattershot way that seemed to rankle the U.S. President, who had chosen not to outline any terms when appearing afterward with Mr. Putin.
Ahead of Monday’s White House meetings, Mr. Trump took to social media to say that even if Russia said, “We give up, we concede, we surrender” the information media and Democrats “would say that this was a nasty and humiliating day for Donald J. Trump.”
He individually lashed out on the Wall Street Journal and different shops “who truly don’t have a clue, tell me everything that I am doing wrong on the Russia/Ukraine MESS.”
Following the Alaska summit, Mr. Trump declared {that a} ceasefire was not essential for peace talks to proceed, a sudden shift to a place favoured by Mr. Putin.
‘A really large transfer’
European officers confirmed that Mr. Trump advised them Mr. Putin remains to be looking for management of your entire Donbas area, despite the fact that Ukraine controls a significant share of it.
Mr. Trump’s particular envoy, Steve Witkoff, stated the U.S. and its allies may supply Ukraine a NATO-like dedication to defend the nation if it got here beneath assault because the potential safety assure, with particulars to be labored out.
Monday’s assembly will doubtless be very powerful for Mr. Zelenskyy, an official shut to the continuing talks stated. That official spoke on situation of anonymity to converse brazenly about pondering inside Ukraine and between allies.
Mr. Zelenskyy wants to stop a state of affairs through which he will get blamed for blocking peace talks by rejecting Mr. Putin’s maximalist demand on the Donbas, the official stated. It is a requirement Mr. Zelenskyy has stated many instances he won’t ever settle for as a result of it’s unconstitutional and will create a launching pad for future Russian assaults.
If confronted with stress to settle for Mr. Putin’s calls for, Mr. Zelenskyy would doubtless have to revert to a talent he has demonstrated repeatedly: diplomatic tact. The Ukrainian management is looking for a trilateral assembly with Mr. Zelenskyy, Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin to focus on delicate issues, together with territorial points.
Mr. Putin spoke with the leaders of India, Brazil and South Africa Monday to focus on his assembly with Mr. Trump in Alaska, the Kremlin stated.
