Presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky will meet, Donald Trump has said following a White House summit with European leaders aimed at bringing an end to the war in Ukraine.
The US president spoke directly with the Russian president to begin planning a meeting between the two warring leaders, which will then be followed by a three-way meeting involving himself.
It comes after Mr Trump said Moscow will “accept” multinational efforts to guarantee Ukraine’s security while hosting several European leaders including the Ukrainian President, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte.
Posting on his Truth Social platform after the meeting, Mr Trump said he and the eight leaders discussed security guarantees before he called the Russian president.
He described the meeting as “very good” and added: “During the meeting we discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, which guarantees would be provided by the various European countries, with a coordination with the United States of America.
“Everyone is happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine.
“At the conclusion of the meetings, I called president Putin and began arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between president Putin and president Zelensky.
“After the meeting takes place, we will have a trilat which would be the two presidents plus myself.”
Starmer optimistic after talks
Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer has hailed “real progress” made during a White House summit with European leaders aimed at bringing an end to the war in Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump said he is actively planning a meeting between the Russian leader and Mr Zelensky, which will then be followed by a three-way meeting involving himself.
Speaking after the event, Starmer described the talks as “good and constructive”, adding: “There was a real sense of unity between the European leaders that were there, and president Trump and president Zelensky”.
The PM highlighted “two material outcomes” from the talks, firstly that the coalition of the willing “will now work with the US” on security guarantees.
“That’s really important for security in Ukraine, for security in Europe, and for security in the UK,” he said.
