Trump Zelenskyy Washington Meeting Live: ‘Everyone happy about possibility of peace’ – Trump calls Putin, begins arrangement for trilateral meet

Kirill Dmitriev — a top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin — reshared one of the statements made by US President Donald Trump.

“All of the peace deals I made were made without a ceasefire,” he posted on X.

The remark was made by Trump during the ongoing news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Donald Trump has said that the US would back European security guarantees for Ukraine to help end the war with Russia.

Donald Trump had been rather displeased when Zelenskyy arrived at the White House in February wearing his military uniform —quipping that he’d gotten “all dressed up.”

“I can’t believe it, I love it,” Trump said — gesturing to Zelenskiy’s black suit as he greeted him at the White House on Monday

Conservative reporter Brian Glenn — who had previously sparked the discourse over attire — told Zelenskyy on Monday that he looked “fabulous in that suit”. Glenn had implied during the February visit that Zelenskyy’s casual dress was disrespectful.

“I said the same thing!” Trump exclaimed in response to Glenn today.

Turning to Zelenskyy, Trump said “that’s the one that attacked you last time.”

“I remember that,” Zelenskyy said as laughter rippled through the room.

“I don’t think you need a ceasefire. If you look at the six deals that I settled this year, they were all at war. I didn’t do any ceasefires … I like the concept of a ceasefire for one reason: because you’d stop killing people immediately,” he said.

Donald Trump had met with his Russian counterpart in Alaska on Friday — vehemently insisting that a ceasefire would be inked within hours. But nearly three hours of discussion concluded without a breakthrough as Trump echoed the Kremlin’s position on several key points. The US President is now pushing for direct peace negotiations without a ceasefire and urging Ukraine to cede land to ensure peace. 

“We may or may not have a trilat. If we don’t have a trilat, then the fighting continues, and if we do, we have a good chance — I think if we have a trilat, there’s a good chance of maybe ending it,” Trump said.

US President Donald Trump said Russian leader Vladimir Putin was “expecting my call when we’re finished with this meeting” with Zelenskyy and the group of European leaders.

Trump and Putin met in person Friday in Alaska to discuss ending the war.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that Ukraine was prepared to find a “diplomatic way” to end the war — reiterating calls for a trilateral meeting with Moscow and Washington.

He did not provide a direct answer when asked if Kyiv was ready to “redraw the maps” in a peace deal or “keep sending Ukrainian troops to their deaths for another couple of years”. In response Zelenskyy merely praised the Trump administration’s efforts to stop the war.

Zelenskiy said he’s open to holding an election.

“We have to do safety and circumstances… We need to work in Parliament, because during the war, you can’t have elections, but we can, we can do security. We need a truce… to make possible for people to do democratic, open, legal, legal elections,” he said.

“There’ll be a lot of help when it comes to security. There’s going to be a lot of help. It’s going to be good. They are first line of defense because they’re Europe. But we’re going to help them out also. We’ll be involved,” Trump said.

US President Donald Trump told a reporter that American support for Ukraine would remain — regardless of how the meeting with Zelensky turned out today.

“Is this the end of the road for American support for Ukraine. Is today’s meeting deal or no deal?” Trump was asked.

“I can never say that. 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,” the US President responded.

US President Donald Trump did not rule out the possibility of sending US troops to Ukraine in order to maintain a potential peace deal.

“We’ll let you know that, maybe later today,” he said.

This could mark a major shift as Ukraine considers security guarantees to be critical for any eventual peace deal with Russia. Trump also said that the US would be involved in securing peace — with Europe taking the lead.

“They are first line of defense, because they’re there, Europe. But we’re going to help them out. Also, we’ll be involved. I think if we can get to peace, it’s going to work. I have no doubt about it,” he said.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin wants the Ukraine war to end.

Trump made the comments ahead of a closely watched bilateral meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the White House.

Both Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky stressed the need to stop the war as a joint meeting began. Trump said the meeting is “very important” and Zelenskyy thanked Trump for trying to end Russia’s war against his country.

“If everything works out well we’ll have a trilateral meeting,” the POTUS said.

Zelenskyy also signalled he’s open to having a trilateral meeting with Trump and Putin to negotiate end to Russia-Ukraine war.

TAKE

The Ukrainian leader had earlier urged stronger sanctions against Russia if no trilateral meeting is held between him, US President Donald Trump, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump Zelenskyy Washington Meeting Live: Ukrainian President meets Trump

A large Ukrainian flag now flies on one side of the West Wing entrance, with an American flag on the other. A military honour guard has also taken position, their uniformed members lining the driveway.

French President Emmanuel Macron has arrived at the White House — the last of the European leaders convening a meeting with Trump later today. Volodymyr Zelensky is set to join them shortly. They will wait inside the executive residence for a few hours as the Ukrainian leader meets with President Donald Trump.

“We must stop the killings, and I thank our partners who are working toward this and ultimately toward a reliable and dignified peace. Together with the leaders of Finland, the United Kingdom, Italy, the European Commission, and the NATO Secretary General, we coordinated our positions ahead of the meeting with President Trump. Ukraine is ready for a real truce and for establishing a new security architecture. We need peace,” Zelensky wrote on X.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that Kyiv was seeking a “reliable and lasting peace” in its war with Russia and that it was prepared to establish “a new security architecture”.

“Our main goal is a reliable and lasting peace for Ukraine and for the whole of Europe. And it is important that the momentum of all our meetings lead to precisely this result,” he wrote on X before meeting U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington.

“Ukraine is ready for a real truce and for establishing a new security architecture. We need peace.”

Air raid sirens were reportedly heard in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv as European leaders arrived at the White House for the talks.

Russia has continued attacking Ukraine since the recent meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. Deadly strikes also esulted in multiple civilian casualties and significant damage in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia on August 18.

Several European leaders have already arrived at the White House ahead of the Donald Trump-Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were the first to reach. Others including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have already reached — with Zelensky expected to arrive at the end.

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Finnish President Alexander Stubb are all expected to attend meetings with Trump today.

Oil prices edged up on Monday as investors awaited talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart after an inconclusive U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska on Friday

Brent crude futures rose 34 cents, or 0.52%, to $66.19 a barrel by 12:00 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 38 cents, or 0.61%, at $63.18.

Last week Brent eased by 1.1% while WTI dropped 1.7%.

Investors remained wary ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The meeting comes days after Trump’s summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin yielded no concrete outcome.

According to an update shared by the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with the leaders of India, Brazil and South Africa on Monday. The discussions focused on the results from his talk with Donald Trump and came mere hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived to speak with the US President at the White House.

He also spoke with key allies, including leaders in Central Asia and Belarus’ Alexander Lukashenko, in a series of calls Monday and Sunday. Putin had made similar calls to world leaders following his meeting with special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff in early August. On that occasion, he also spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

According to reports, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with his European counterparts ahead of the interaction with Trump. Sources told CNN that the meeting would take place at the Ukrainian embassy in Washington, DC. The leaders are expected to coordinate positions before they sit down with the US president and his delegation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with US special envoy Keith Kellogg ahead of his talks with US President Donald Trump and European leaders at the White House.

“We discussed the battlefield situation and our strong diplomatic capabilities – Ukraine’s and all of Europe’s together with America. Russia can only be forced into peace through strength, and President Trump has that strength. We have to do everything right to make peace happen,” Zelensky wrote on X.

“I’ve settled 6 Wars in 6 months, one of them a possible Nuclear disaster, and yet I have to read & listen to the Wall Street Journal, and many other who truly don’t have a clue, tell me everything that I am doing wrong on the Russia/Ukraine MESS, that is Sleepy Joe Biden’s war, not mine. I’m only here to stop it, not to prosecute it any further. It would have NEVER happened if I was President. I know exactly what I’m doing, and I don’t need the advice of people who have been working on all of these conflicts for years, and were never able to do a thing to stop them. They are “STUPID” people, with no common sense, intelligence, or understanding, and they only make the current R/U disaster more difficult to FIX. Despite all of my lightweight and very jealous critics, I’ll get it done — I always do!!! President DJT” he wrote on Truth Social.

The stakes have risen since Trump met with with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. Trump has abandoned the requirement of reaching a ceasefire in order to hold further talks and now aligns with Putin’s position that negotiations should focus on a long-term settlement instead.

The presence of several European leaders at the talks in Washington shows how central the conflict — and any settlement — is to wider security questions on the continent. They are looking to safeguard Ukraine and Europe more broadly from any further aggression from Moscow — but also are providing a show of support for Zelenskyy after his last visit to the White House led to an angry confrontation.

Key timings for Trump-Zelenskyy meet at White House:

10:30 PM IST – European leaders expected to arrive at the White House

11:30 PM IST – Trump will welcome Zelensky, followed by a bilateral meeting 15 minutes later

12:45 AM IST (Tuesday) – Trump will greet the European leaders

1:30 AM IST (Tuesday) – Meeting between European leaders and Trump will begin