US President Donald Trump on Monday raised hopes of a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia as he warmly welcomed President Volodymyr Zelensky for high-stakes talks at the White House.
The meeting marked their first encounter since a tense Oval Office row in February and followed Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week.
Despite clear differences over the concessions Trump has urged Kyiv to make, he said there was a “good chance” of ending the conflict launched by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. He added that he would speak to Putin by telephone later in the day and hoped to hold a three-way meeting with the Kremlin leader and Zelensky.
“I think if everything works out well today, we’ll have a trilat, and I think there will be a reasonable chance of ending the war when we do that,” Trump said as he sat beside Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Zelensky, accompanied by leading European figures, thanked Trump: “Thank you very much for your efforts, personal efforts to stop killings and stop this war.”
The leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, the European Commission and NATO joined Zelensky in Washington, styling themselves as a “coalition of the willing.” They were expected to meet Trump later, amid concerns he was tilting closer to Putin’s position by urging Ukraine to cede Crimea and abandon its NATO ambitions.
The atmosphere was markedly calmer than in February, when Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly berated Zelensky for insufficient gratitude towards US aid. On Monday, Trump even complimented Zelensky’s black jacket, which right-wing commentators had criticised.
“I love it,” Trump said, as he shook hands with the Ukrainian leader on his arrival at the West Wing.
Nonetheless, fears persisted that Washington might align more closely with Moscow. While air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv and Russian strikes killed at least seven overnight, Zelensky pressed for Western security guarantees to underpin any peace settlement.
Trump insisted the United States would play a role in Ukraine’s future security but stopped short of confirming whether US troops might be involved.
Zelensky described the Oval Office talks as “very serious,” and, echoing Trump’s own language, said: “President Trump has that strength. We have to do everything right to make peace happen.”
Reports suggest Putin might accept Western security guarantees for Ukraine under a peace deal, but not its long-term aspiration to join NATO. Trump underlined that point, stating that Kyiv could end the war “almost immediately” if it dropped claims to Crimea and NATO membership.
He also repeated that he did not believe a ceasefire was necessary to negotiate peace, reinforcing the gulf between Kyiv’s demands and Washington’s shifting stance.