Trump meets Zelenskyy at White House, says Putin wants Ukraine war to end

US President Donald Trump on Monday met his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House in a high-stakes meeting on Monday, nearly six months after both leaders were involved in a heated showdown at the Oval Office.

Asserting that the world was "tired" of the Ukraine war, which began with Russia's invasion in February 2022, Trump teased the possibility of a trilateral summit with the US, Ukraine and Russia participating to end the conflict.

"We're going to have a meeting. I think if everything works out well today, we'll have a trilateral and I think there will be a reasonable chance of ending the war when we do that," Trump said.

"And we supported the idea of... President Trump to stop this war, to make a diplomatic way of finishing this war. And we are ready for trilateral," he said.

Unlike the February meeting where tensions simmered between Trump and Zelenskyy over Ukraine's security guarantees, Monday's meeting was more open, with both leaders smiling and chuckling as they conversed and calmly took questions from reporters.

Trump said a "good progress" was being made and said it was an "honour" to have Zelenskyy with him at the Oval Office, a stark contrast to his confrontational tone with the Ukrainian leader during the February 28 meeting.

Thanking Trump for his efforts to end the 3.5-year-old conflict, Zelenskyy said, "Thank you very much for your... personal efforts to stop killings and stop this war. We want it to end good for everybody. The people of Ukraine have suffered."

On his part, Trump



said the proposed trilateral summit will offer a "reasonable chance" to end the Ukraine war "or else the killings will continue".

"People are being killed and we want to stop that... I know the President, I know myself, and I believe Vladimir Putin wants to see it ended. We're going to work with Ukraine, we're going to work with everybody, and we're going to make sure that if there's peace, that peace is going to stay long-term," he said.

"We are not talking about a two-year peace and then we end up in this mess again. We are going to make sure that everything is good. I think if we can get to peace, it's going to work. I have no doubt it," he said.

Asked whether Ukraine will get security guarantees, Trump said Kyiv will get "a lot of help".

"It's going to be good. They are first line of defence because they're there. They're Europe. But we're going to help them out also. We'll be involved," he said.

Asked if security guarantees for Ukraine could involve US troops, Trump did not reject the idea of US troops in Ukraine.

“We'll let you know that maybe later today. We're meeting with seven great leaders of great countries also, and we'll be talking about that," he said.

When Zelenskyy was asked what security guarantees he needed from Trump, he mentioned training missions and intelligence sharing as key components needed to strengthen the Ukrainian army.

Trump also said he would call Russian President Vladimir Putin after his meeting with Zelenskyy. He added that he had just spoken to Putin indirectly.