Trump Hosts Zelenskyy, European Leaders for Talks on Ending Russia-Ukraine War

Washington, The Gulf Observer: US President Donald Trump on Monday convened Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and top European leaders at the White House for high-stakes talks aimed at forging a unified strategy to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

In brief remarks before entering hours of closed-door negotiations, both Trump and Zelenskyy struck an optimistic tone, signaling potential progress after months of tense diplomacy. The meeting marked a sharp contrast from Zelenskyy’s visit in February, which was marred by public friction amid Trump’s push for a swift resolution to the conflict.

Trump suggested that Washington is prepared to provide Kyiv with security guarantees as part of any prospective peace agreement. “We’re going to be discussing it today, but we will give them very good protection, very good security. That’s part of it,” Trump told reporters, noting that European leaders were aligned on the issue. “They feel very strongly about it, and we’ll help them out with that. I think it’s very important to get the deal done.”

The talks brought together a high-profile roster of European leaders, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also joined the discussions.

While Trump did not rule out deploying US forces to Ukraine as part of potential security guarantees, he said details would be determined in the course of the talks.

Zelenskyy, for his part, expressed gratitude for Trump’s “personal efforts” to end the Kremlin’s war and signaled openness to a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We are ready for trilateral. As President (Trump) said, this is a good signal about trilateral. I think this is very good,” he stated.

The US president has positioned a three-way meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy as a possible next step following his talks with the Russian leader in Alaska last week. Though both Trump and Putin indicated progress toward a peace framework, details of their discussions remain scarce.

Trump noted that he had communicated with Putin “indirectly” ahead of Monday’s White House talks and intended to speak with him directly by phone after the meeting concluded.

Responding to questions on whether Washington’s support for Ukraine was reaching its limits, Trump dismissed such suggestions. “It’s never the end of the road. People are being killed, and we want to stop that. So, I would not say it’s the end of the road. No, I think we have a good chance of doing it,” he said.