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Trump says U.S. is arranging meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy

Leaders of European countries, NATO descended on D.C. to prevent talks shifting in Putin's favour

U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet at the Oval Office of the White House, amid negotiations to end the Russian war in Ukraine, in Washington, D.C. Monday. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet at the Oval Office of the White House, amid negotiations to end the Russian war in Ukraine, in Washington, D.C. Monday. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that a meeting is being arranged between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to hash out a potential ceasefire and who gets Ukrainian territory seized by Russia.

Trump made the comments following talks at the White House with Zelenskyy and European leaders, and a subsequent call with Putin.

"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," Trump said, adding that U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff would make arrangements between the two countries.

Trump also said he would back European security guarantees for Ukraine as he met with Zelenskyy and the leaders of France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Finland, as well as the president of the European Commission and the head of NATO.

Trump stopped short of committing U.S. troops to a collective effort to bolster Ukraine's security. He said instead that there would be a "NATO-like" security presence and that all those details would be hashed out with EU leaders.

Zelenskyy said security guarantees for Kyiv will likely be worked out within 10 days.

 

Politicians stand in a row.
U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Finland's President Alexander Stubb, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pose for a family photo amid negotiations to end the Russian war in Ukraine, at the White House in Washington, D.C. Monday. (Alexander Drago/Reuters)

 

"Security guarantees will probably be 'unpacked' by our partners, and more and more details will emerge. All of this will somehow be formalized on paper within the next week to 10 days," Zelenskyy said at broadcast press briefing after his meetings.

He also said that territorial issues related to a potential peace agreement will be worked out between Ukraine and Russia.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters that Putin and Zelenskyy would meet "within the next two weeks," and that Trump agreed to extend another invitation to a three-way meeting afterward.

 

 
 
 

Zelenskyy said he was open to trilateral talks, and said he was open to holding an election in safe circumstances if the war with Russia were to come to an end.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he had also spoken to Putin indirectly before the meeting.

Germany's Bild newspaper reported that Trump at one point interrupted his talks with the European leaders to call Putin. 

 

Trump put onus on Zelenskyy in social media posts

Ahead of the meetings, Trump told Ukraine to give up hopes of getting back annexed Crimea or joining NATO as he prepared to host Zelenskyy and European leaders.

After rolling out the red carpet for Putin in Alaska, Trump's comments on social media Sunday night suggested he would press Zelenskyy hard at Monday's meeting to end Europe's deadliest war in 80 years. 

 

WATCH l Zelenskyy talks about security guarantees: 
 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he hoped Monday's meeting at the White House with several European leaders and U.S. President Donald Trump would lead to trilateral talks with Russian President Vladamir Putin and a permanent end to Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Zelenskyy "can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight," Trump said on Truth Social. "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." 

Crimea, recognized by most countries as Ukraine territory since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, was annexed by Russia in 2014, during Barack Obama's presidency.

Meanwhile, the war that has killed tens of thousands rages on, as Russia launched missiles and drones in overnight attacks which killed seven people in Kharkiv, including two children, officials said.  

A firefighter is shown inside a heavily charred and destroyed room spraying water.
A firefighter works at the site of an apartment building, hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, on Monday. (Sofiia Gatilova/Reuters) 
 

"They hit an ordinary apartment block; many flats, many families were living here, small children, children's playground, residential compound. There are no offices here or anything else, we lived here peacefully in our homes," said Olena Yakusheva, a local resident, as firefighters battled a blaze in the building and rescue workers dug in the rubble.

In addition, a Russian attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia killed three people and wounded 20, the regional governor for the city said.

On the battlefield, Russia has been slowly grinding forward, pressing home its advantages in men and firepower.

 

European leaders called Zelenskyy ahead of meeting

Ukraine and its allies have long feared that Trump could press an agreement favourable to Moscow. However, they have taken heart from some developments, including Trump's apparent willingness to provide post-settlement security guarantees for Ukraine.

Zelenskyy has already all but rejected the outline of Putin's proposals from the Alaska meeting, including for Ukraine to give up the rest of its eastern Donetsk region, of which it currently controls one-quarter. Ukrainian forces are deeply dug into Donetsk, whose towns and hills serve as a crucial defensive zone to stymie Russian attacks.

Zelenskyy is also seeking an immediate ceasefire to conduct deeper peace talks. Trump previously backed that, but reversed course after the summit with Putin and indicated support for Russia's favoured approach of negotiating a comprehensive deal while fighting rumbles on.

The Ukrainian president said after arriving in Washington late on Sunday he was grateful to Trump for the invitation.

"We all equally want to end this war swiftly and reliably," Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging app. "Russia must end this war — the war it started. And I hope that our shared strength with America and with our European friends will compel Russia to real peace."

A bespectacled, balding and cleanshaven man is shown walking near a vehicle. Part of an airplane is shown.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, left, walks to the Air Force Airbus A319 at Franz-Josef-Strauss Airport in Munich on Monday, ahead of a flight to Washington.  (Kay Nietfeld/dpa/The Associated Press)

Rocky U.S.-Ukraine relationship

Ukraine's pressing need for U.S. weapons and intelligence sharing, some of which have no viable alternative, has forced Zelenskyy and his allies to work with Trump.  

Relations between Kyiv and Washington, once extremely close, have been rocky since Trump returned to the White House in January. Zelenskyy avoided a repeat of the ill-tempered, abbreviated meeting in Washington held in February, where he was berated by Trump, JD Vance and a reporter from a right-wing American cable network.

 

WATCH l Zelenskyy, European leaders prepare to meet Trump: 
 
 
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy flies to Washington on Monday under heavy U.S. pressure to agree to a swift end to Russia's war in his country, but determined to defend Kyiv's interests — without sparking a second Oval Office dust-up with Donald Trump.

Trump railed on the 2024 campaign trail about the amount of military aid predecessor Joe Biden's administration was providing Ukraine, even as much of the spending was benefiting American military contractors. The Trump administration committed no new Ukraine funding in its recent budget bill, instead brokering a deal for European countries to purchase U.S.-made weapons.

During his first presidential term, Trump was impeached in 2019 by the House of Representatives after it was revealed he tried to enlist Zelenskyy, then in his first weeks as Ukraine president, into a scheme that would smear Biden. Trump was acquitted by the Senate, but during the impeachment process continued to allege that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 U.S. election to help Democrat Hillary Clinton win, which has been dismissed by intelligence experts as a conspiracy theory.

With files from The Associated Press and CBC News

Source: CBC News:

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