Zelenskyy Took Seven European Leaders To Meet Trump To Discuss A Peace Deal After Their Huge Fight
"We are ready for trilateral talks. As [the] President said, it's a good signal," Zelenskyy said.
In an extraordinary meeting, US President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and seven European leaders at the White House on Monday, Aug. 18, to discuss a possible path toward ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The meeting came days after Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, which Trump said was "extremely productive" with "many points agreed upon" but no ceasefire or peace agreement.
Zelenskyy was joined by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UK prime minister Keir Starmer, far-right Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the head of NATO Mark Rutte.
At the meeting, Zelenskyy said they discussed “very sensitive points,” including security guarantees for Ukraine and the return of Ukrainian children and prisoners of war held by Russia.
He also thanked Trump for his personal efforts and signaled openness to taking part in a trilateral meeting with Trump and Putin.
"We are ready for trilateral talks. As [the] President said, it's a good signal," he said.
Trump said the US and its European partners would provide Ukraine with “very good protection” but ruled out sending American troops.
He also reiterated that a broader peace deal could happen without an immediate ceasefire, which European leaders were against and insisted that the killing must stop first.
“Today was an important step, a demonstration of genuine unity between Europe and the United States," Zelenskyy later posted on X, adding that “the leaders personally came to support Ukraine and to discuss everything that will bring us closer to real peace, to a reliable security architecture that will protect Ukraine and all of Europe.”
Trump posted on Truth Social, saying that he had called Putin the same day to arrange a meeting between the two, and possibly a trilateral meeting with Zelenskyy, calling it “a very good, early step for a war that has been going on for almost four years.”
Flavie Chen
Cherry Mohamed
Kassy Cho
