President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States would help Europe in providing security for Ukraine as part of any deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, as he and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy began a hastily arranged White House meeting to discuss a path to peace.
But he also suggested to reporters that he no longer believed reaching a ceasefire was a necessary prerequisite for striking a peace agreement, backing a position staked out by Russian President Vladimir Putin and opposed by Zelenskiy and most European leaders.
“When it comes to security, there’s going to be a lot of help,” Trump said, adding that European countries would be involved. “They are a first line of defence because they’re there, but we’ll help them out.”
The two presidents took questions from the media in the Oval Office before meeting in private, six months after their last appearance there descended into disaster when Trump and Vice President JD Vance upbraided Zelenskiy in an extraordinary public dressing-down.
This time, the meeting appeared far more convivial, despite the U.S. president’s movement toward Russia in recent days following his summit in Alaska with Putin. Zelenskiy struck a deferential tone, expressing gratitude more than once for the support of the United States.
Zelenskiy was also backed by the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, the European Union and NATO, who traveled to Washington to demonstrate solidarity with Ukraine and push for strong security guarantees for the country in any post-war settlement.
Following their one-on-one discussion, Trump and Zelenskiy made a joint appearance with the European leaders ahead of planned multilateral talks.
Zelenskiy described the one-on-one discussion as “very good” and said they had spoken about the importance of U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine.
“This is very important, that the United States gives such a strong signal and is ready for security guarantees,” Zelenskiy said.
Trump said he and Zelenskiy had covered “a lot of territory” during their discussion. He also again proposed a three-way summit among Putin, Zelenskiy and himself aimed at reaching a peace deal, which Zelenskiy said he would support.
Putin has not publicly committed to such a meeting, though Trump said repeatedly that he believes Putin wants to end the war. Trump said he had spoken to Putin on Monday and would call him after the talks as well.
Trump is pressing for a quick end to Europe’s deadliest war in 80 years, and Kyiv and its allies worry he could seek to force an agreement on Russia’s terms after the president on Friday in Alaska rolled out the red carpet – literally – for Putin, who faces charges from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes.
Trump said in the Oval Office that he liked the concept of a ceasefire, but they could work on a peace deal while the fighting continued.
“I wish they could stop, I’d like them to stop,” he said. “But strategically that could be a disadvantage for one side or the other.”
During the later appearance, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pushed back on that suggestion.
“I can’t imagine that the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire,” Merz said. “So let’s work on that and let’s try to put pressure on Russia.”
