Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he will meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday, following a Russia-U.S. summit that ended without progress on halting the war in Ukraine after three and a half years.
In a shift of stance, just hours after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump said that a comprehensive peace agreement — rather than a temporary ceasefire — was the best path to ending the conflict. His remarks echoed Putin’s position that Moscow seeks a long-term settlement reflecting its interests, not a short-term truce.
Until now, Trump and Ukraine’s European allies had been pushing for a ceasefire as a precondition to any broader negotiations.
Zelensky, who was not invited to the Alaska summit, said he had a “long and substantive” phone call with Trump early Saturday. He expressed gratitude for the invitation to Washington and said Monday’s meeting would focus on “all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war.”
The trip will mark Zelensky’s first visit to the U.S. since Trump publicly rebuked him as “disrespectful” during an extraordinary Oval Office encounter on February 28.
Trump, who also spoke with European leaders on Saturday, confirmed the White House meeting and added that “if all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin.”
On Friday, Trump welcomed Putin to the U.S. with full ceremony — the Russian leader’s first visit in a decade and since launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Trump offered few details afterward but later wrote on social media that the talks “went very well.”
Trump had warned ahead of the summit of “very severe consequences” for Russia if Putin doesn’t agree to end the war.
Zelensky Seeks European Involvement
Zelensky stressed the need to bring European leaders into the process, noting they were also excluded from the summit.
“It is important that Europeans are involved at every stage to ensure reliable security guarantees together with America,” he said. “We also discussed positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine’s security.”
He gave no further details. In the past, however, Zelensky has said that European partners paused a proposal to deploy foreign troops in Ukraine as a deterrent to future Russian aggression because it lacked U.S. backing.
Zelensky said he spoke to Trump one-on-one and then in a call with other European leaders. In total, the conversations lasted over 90 minutes.
