What to know about Trump’s talks with Zelenskyy and European leaders

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and top European leaders met with United States President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday to discuss plans to bring an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Trump convened the meeting after last week’s three-hour summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, where Putin rejected the idea of a ceasefire before reaching a comprehensive peace deal and urged Ukraine to surrender territory in the east in exchange for freezing the front line elsewhere.

Trump and Zelenskyy’s interactions were notably warmer than during their tense encounter at the White House in February, with the US president even praising his counterpart’s suit.

Here are the key takeaways:

Trump said the US would back Europe in protecting Ukraine as part of a deal to end the war with Russia.

“When it comes to security, there’s going to be a lot of help,” Trump said, describing European countries as the “first line of defence”.

“We have people waiting in another room, right now, they’re all here from Europe,” Trump added. “Biggest people in Europe. And they want to give protection. They feel very strongly about it, and we’ll help them out with that.”

Trump also said that US support for Ukraine would continue regardless of the outcome of the talks.

“It’s never the end of the road. People are being killed, and we want to stop that. So, I would not say it was the end of the road. I think we have a good chance of doing it,” he said.

Zelenskyy hailed the pledge as “a major step forward”.

He later told reporters that Ukraine had offered to buy about $90bn worth of US weapons.

Zelenskyy backed elections, provided they are held under safe circumstances.

“Yes, of course. We are open, yes… We need to work in the parliament because during the war, you can’t have elections, but we can, we can do security,” Zelenskyy said.

“We need a truce… to make it possible for people to do democratic, open, legal, legal elections,” he added.

When asked if he would carry out his promise from last week to impose “severe consequences” on Russia if it does not end the war, Trump replied that a ceasefire may not be needed.

“I don’t think you need a ceasefire,” Trump said.

“You know, if you look at the six deals that I settled this year, they were all at war. I didn’t do any ceasefires. And I know that it might be good to have, but I can also understand strategically why one country or the other wouldn’t want it,” he said.

“But we can work a deal where we’re working on a peace deal while they’re fighting,” Trump added.

“They have to fight. I wish they could stop.”

Trump has claimed credit for helping to end six wars, including conflicts between India and Pakistan and Cambodia and Thailand.

Asked what guarantees Zelenskyy would need from Trump to agree to a deal, the Ukrainian leader responded: “everything”.

“It includes two parts. First, a strong Ukrainian army that I began to discuss with your colleagues, and it’s a lot about weapons and people and training issues and intelligence,” Zelenskyy said.

Today, important negotiations took place in Washington. We discussed many issues with President Trump. It was a long and detailed conversation, including discussions about the situation on the battlefield and our steps to bring peace closer. There were also several meetings in a… pic.twitter.com/YqkdRlyKCI

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 19, 2025

After his initial meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump held a multilateral meeting with the Ukrainian leader and European leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The US president described it as an “honour” to convene with them at the White House, saying they were united in their goal of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“We’ve had a very successful day thus far, and important discussions as we work to end the killing and stop the war in Ukraine,” Trump said.

President Trump and President Zelenskyy en route to meet with the European leaders pic.twitter.com/EHvttm7nDl

— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) August 18, 2025

“At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social after the talks.

“This is one of the key points that we need to consider, and we’re going to be considering that at the table,” Trump said.

He expressed optimism that, collectively, an agreement could be reached to deter further aggression against Ukraine.

Trump also said discussions would need to address the possible exchange of territory.

“Ultimately, this is a decision that can only be made by President Zelenskyy and by the people of Ukraine, working also in agreement with President Putin,” Trump said.

Russia controls about one-fifth of Ukraine, according to open-source estimates. Ukraine, which took control of a large swath of Russia’s Kursk region during a surprise counter-offensive last year, is not believed to hold any Russian territory at present.

Trump added that he expected Putin to release Ukrainian prisoners soon.

• NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the priority must be to stop the killing, as well as the destruction of Ukraine’s infrastructure, thanking Trump for having “broken the deadlock”.
• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the focus must be on a “just and lasting peace for Ukraine”, and added: “Every single child has to go back to its family,” referring to the forced removal of Ukrainian children to Russia and Belarus.
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he “can’t imagine that the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire”, urging allies to “work on that and try to put pressure on Russia”.
• Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stressed that one of the most important issues is security guarantees and “how to be sure that it won’t happen again, which is the precondition of every kind of peace”.
• French President Emmanuel Macron said the aim must be a “robust and longstanding peace”, and called the idea of a trilateral meeting “very important because this is the only way to fix it”. He also suggested that “we will need boots on the ground” to secure peace.

Everybody around this table is in favor of peace. pic.twitter.com/F7wYi8MQ8M

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 18, 2025

• UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the talks were not just about Ukraine but “the security of Europe and the United Kingdom as well, which is why this is such an important issue”.
• Finnish President Alexander Stubb said the gathering itself was “symbolic, in the sense that it’s Team Europe and Team United States helping Ukraine”. Noting Finland’s long border with Russia, he added: “We found a solution in 1944, and I’m sure that we’ll be able to find a solution in 2025 to end Russia’s war of aggression, find and get a lasting, just peace.”

European Council leaders will hold a video call tomorrow to review Monday’s talks, President Antonio Costa said.

In a post on X, Costa said the call would take place at 1pm Brussels time (11:00 GMT) on Tuesday.