President Donald Trump announced that he has taken the first steps to arrange direct talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, aimed at finding a resolution to Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
The announcement came shortly after Trump spoke by phone with Putin on Monday, even as he hosted Zelenskyy alongside top European leaders to advance his push for peace.
“I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy,” Trump wrote in a social media post following the White House meetings. “After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself. Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described Monday’s gathering as a “good meeting” and noted that the planned encounter between Putin and Zelenskyy could happen within two weeks.
It remains uncertain whether Putin has fully agreed to the proposal. The Kremlin did confirm that Trump’s call with Putin took place and lasted about 40 minutes. That discussion came just days after Trump and Putin met in Alaska to talk over the long-running conflict.
According to Russia’s Tass news agency, Putin adviser Yuri Ushakov reported that Trump and Putin “spoke in favor” of continuing direct talks between Russia and Ukraine, and even weighed “the idea of raising the level of the direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations.”
Trump earlier told Zelenskyy and the European leaders that any ceasefire and the status of territory occupied by Russia should be negotiated directly between Putin and Zelenskyy. That meeting, he added, would take place before a trilateral session with both presidents and himself.
Monday’s White House talks came on the heels of Trump’s summit with Putin at a U.S. base in Alaska, where he leaned toward Moscow’s demands for Kyiv to cede territory. Russia currently controls about one-fifth of Ukraine.
“We’re going to let the president go over and talk to the president and we’ll see how that works out,” Trump said during his discussions with Zelenskyy and the European delegation.
Trump also pledged to back European-led security guarantees for Ukraine, speaking alongside Zelenskyy and the leaders of France, Germany, Britain, Italy, and Finland, as well as the president of the European Commission and NATO’s secretary-general.
Although Trump stopped short of promising U.S. troops, he indicated that Europe would build a “NATO-like” security structure with American support.
“They want to give protection and they feel very strongly about it and we’ll help them out with that,” Trump explained. “I think its very important to get the deal done.”
Before the meetings, Russia’s Foreign Ministry dismissed any suggestion of a NATO peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, warning such a step could provoke escalation and “unpredictable consequences,” said spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
The tone of Monday’s session stood in contrast to the tense February encounter between Trump and Zelenskyy, when talks collapsed and U.S. aid was briefly paused after Trump and Vice President JD Vance criticized Zelenskyy for showing insufficient gratitude.
At the outset of this week’s meeting, Zelenskyy presented Trump with a letter from his wife Olena for Melania Trump. In turn, Trump delivered a letter to Putin from the U.S. first lady, urging him to consider the plight of children and end the three-and-a-half-year war.
In February, Zelenskyy was criticized by a conservative journalist for appearing in a long-sleeve T-shirt at the White House. This time, he arrived in a dark suit jacket and buttoned shirt, though he has often said his usual casual attire is meant as solidarity with Ukrainian troops.
Trump’s new initiative followed his Friday meeting with Putin, after which he said the responsibility now lies with Zelenskyy to agree to land concessions that could bring the conflict to an end.
“We’ll see in a certain period of time, not very far from now, a week or two weeks, we’re going to know whether or not we’re going to solve this or is this horrible fighting going to continue,” Trump said.
European leaders, excluded from Trump’s summit with Putin, came to Washington determined to defend Ukraine’s interests and prevent further Russian aggression.
Ahead of Monday’s gathering, Trump cast doubt on Ukraine’s ability to ever reclaim Crimea, taken by Russia in 2014.
“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump posted Sunday night. “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!!!”
Zelenskyy countered hours later, writing, “We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably.” He stressed that “peace must be lasting,” not like the temporary calm after Crimea and Donbas were seized years ago, which “Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack.”
Although Putin remains firmly against Ukraine joining NATO, Trump’s advisers say the Russian president may be open to Western powers providing defensive assurances for Kyiv.
European leaders floated the idea of a temporary truce, though Trump, after his meeting with Putin, backed away from demanding an immediate ceasefire and instead called for a comprehensive peace agreement — a shift welcomed by Moscow.
At the start of Monday’s session, German and French leaders praised Trump’s push for peace but pressed him to extract a ceasefire from Russia.
“I would like to see a ceasefire from the next meeting, which should be a trilateral meeting,” Merz said.
Trump responded by saying a permanent settlement is “very attainable,” while noting that “all of us would obviously prefer the immediate ceasefire while we work on a lasting peace.”
Also at the table were European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
The Europeans remain eager for concrete answers on how the U.S. will participate in a future security structure for Ukraine.
Still, Rutte praised Trump’s willingness to provide guarantees, calling it “a big step, a breakthrough.”
Zelenskyy spelled out his nation’s security needs, emphasizing a “strong Ukrainian army” through weapons and training, and additional measures dependent on commitments from NATO, the EU, and the U.S.
Trump had already debriefed Zelenskyy and his allies following his Friday talks with Putin, though details trickled out slowly, frustrating some officials.
European diplomats later confirmed that Trump relayed Putin’s insistence on claiming the entire Donbas region, even though Ukraine continues to hold significant portions of the territory.
{Matzav.com}
