Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy met at the White House yesterday alongside several European leaders, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Following the talks, Trump announced that Vladimir Putin had agreed in principle to meet Zelenskyy directly—though Moscow has not confirmed this.
“At the end of the meetings, I called President Putin and began preparations for a summit, at a location to be determined, between him and President Zelenskyy,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that a trilateral meeting with the US president would follow.
D. Trump has ruled out the possibility of Ukraine regaining Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, as well as joining NATO.
Both Starmer and Merz appeared to validate the initiative, though Merz cautioned: “We don’t know if the Russian president will have the courage to attend such a summit. Persuasion is required.”
Earlier, Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine was ready for talks with Russia “in any format,” while stressing that territorial issues would only be discussed bilaterally with Putin. Russian state agency Tass reported that Putin had signaled openness to “the idea” of direct talks.
Trump said that if the war ends, Ukraine would receive major security assistance, but emphasized that Europe would carry most of the burden, as it constitutes the “first line of defense.”
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