Trump says preparations have begun for a meeting between Zelensky and Putin

Donald Trump, following his talks with Vladimir Zelensky and European leaders, as well as a call to Vladimir Putin, has announced the "beginning of preparations" for a meeting between the Ukrainian president and the Russian president. The White House talks with Zelensky and the Europeans also discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, Trump said, but gave no details.

US President Donald Trump, after talks with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and European leaders in Washington, called Russian President Vladimir Putin and "began preparations" for a meeting between him and Zelensky. Trump wrote about this on the social network Truth Social.

"Everyone is very excited about the possibility of peace for Russia and Ukraine. At the end of the meeting, I called President Putin and began preparations for a meeting at a location to be determined later between President Putin and President Zelensky. Once that meeting happens, it will be a trilateral meeting with the two presidents plus myself," Trump wrote.

"Everyone is very excited about the possibility of peace for Russia and Ukraine. At the end of the meeting, I called President Putin and began preparations for a meeting at a location to be determined later between President Putin and President Zelensky. Once that meeting happens, it will be a trilateral meeting with the two presidents plus myself," Trump wrote.

At a meeting with Zelensky and European leaders at the White House, security guarantees for Ukraine were discussed: what exactly different European countries should do in coordination with the United States, Trump also said. However, he did not give any details.

Zelensky said at a briefing in Washington that the option of a Ukraine-Russia bilateral meeting and then a trilateral one was offered by Russia, the BBC reports. "Yes, well, as I said, we are ready for any format at the level of leaders [...] So I confirmed, and I was supported by all European leaders, that we are ready for a bilateral meeting," the US president said.

Present at the White House talks on Monday, in addition to Zielenski, were Presidents Emmanuel Macron of France and Alexander Stubb of Finland, Prime Ministers Keir Starmer of Britain and George Meloni of Italy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Ukraine has offered the US an option in which it promises to buy $100 billion worth of US weapons using European financing in exchange for security guarantees from the US, the Financial Times wrote, citing a document seen by the newspaper. In addition, the proposal implies a $50 billion agreement between Kiev and Washington on the production of drones by Ukrainian companies, the FT claimed.

According to the newspaper's four sources, Ukraine proposed such ideas in a list of items to be discussed with European allies ahead of the White House meeting. The document also says that Ukraine will not accept any deal involving territorial concessions to Russia and insists on a cease-fire as the first step towards a comprehensive peace deal, the newspaper said. According to the document, Kiev rejects a proposal under which Russia would freeze the front line if Ukraine withdraws troops from Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the FT reports.

The Putin and Trump said in a statement that "Putin and Trump expressed support for the continuation of direct talks between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine," but made no mention of the possibility of Putin meeting with Zelensky or a trilateral summit. Putin's conversation with Trump "discussed the idea that the possibility of raising the level of representatives of the Ukrainian and Russian sides should be explored," Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said. Putin and Trump also agreed to "continue to be in close contact with each other," he added.

Trump's meeting with Zelensky and European leaders at the White House came three days after the US president held talks with Putin in Alaska. Following the summit, Trump told reporters at a press conference that the parties had managed to reach an agreement on some points, but did not specify what they were talking about. No settlement deal was reached then.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor