After meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump was joined at the White House on Monday by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and an array of top European leaders.
The leaders turned out in force to show their support for Ukraine and to make their voices heard with Trump, who is looking for a way to end the prolonged war.
A gathering of this many European leaders in the White House on the same day is without precedent in recent times.
Trump and Zelenskyy were joined by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Trump and Zelenskyy held a bilateral meeting early Monday afternoon, and after held a multilateral meeting with all of the leaders, according to the White House.
In a post on X, Zelenskyy said the European leaders had “coordinated” their positions before meeting Trump in the White House and that their main goal was “a reliable and lasting peace for Ukraine and for the whole of Europe.”
“We shouldn’t expect Putin to voluntarily abandon aggression and new attempts at conquest,” Zelenskyy wrote. He also shared a video that showed the European leaders greeting each other and embracing at an earlier meeting in Washington.
On Sunday evening, in a post on Truth Social, Trump placed the responsibility for ending the war on Zelenskyy, saying Ukraine has to give up Russian-annexed Crimea and its goal of joining NATO for the war to end.
Then, ahead of Monday’s meetings, Trump posted again, saying, “A big day at the White House. We have never had so many European Leaders here at one time. A great honor for America!!! Lets see what the results will be???”
On his way to Washington, Starmer posted a video on X speaking about the meeting.
“This war in Ukraine’s been going on a really long time now, I mean, three-plus years. Hugely impacted the Ukrainians, who have suffered hugely,” Starmer said in the video.
“But it’s also impacted Europe. It’s impacted every single family and community in the United Kingdom, and so everybody wants it to end, not the least the Ukrainians,” he continued.
Monday’s discussions moved forward
Ahead of his meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy met with the U.S. president’s special representative for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, per CNBC.
After the meeting with Kellogg, Zelenskyy said: “When peace is discussed for one country in Europe, it means peace for all of Europe. We are ready to continue working with maximum effort to end the war and to ensure reliable security. These are the key issues.”
At the White House Monday, world leaders spoke to reporters about what they expect from the afternoon’s negotiations.
Cameras picked up a hot mic moment as Trump made a remark about Putin while leaders were getting situated.
Zelenskyy addressed the press directly about his meeting with Trump earlier and said he was hopeful they would continue to have “very good” meetings in efforts to “stop this war and stop Russia.” The Ukrainian president also highlighted the importance to the negotiations of bringing home all of the children and the Ukrainian people held in Russia.
After mentioning a trade deal, von der Leyen noted that one of their primary concerns is ensuring that “every single child has to go back to its family,” emphasizing that, “this should be one of our main priorities in these negotiations.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pressed leaders on the need for the fighting to stop ahead of additional negotiations.
“We all would like to see a ceasefire,” Merz said, acknowledging that the process ahead is “more complicated.”
“I can’t imagine the next meeting taking place without a ceasefire,” he added.
French President Emmanuel Macron backed the call, calling it “a necessity.”
The meeting between Trump, European leaders and Zelenskyy moved behind closed doors as reporters were ushered out after the public portion of the meeting.
Trump and Zelenskyy hope for trilateral meeting
Trump continued to push for a trilateral meeting between himself, Zelenskyy and Putin, something Zelenskyy said Ukraine is “ready” for.
When asked about if the U.S. will continue its support for Ukraine if there is no deal made, Trump asserted, “It’s never the end of the road,” ABC News reported.
Trump continued, “people are being killed, and we want to stop that. So, I would not say it’s the end of the road. No, I think we have a good chance of doing it.”
Takeaways from the multilateral meeting in the Oval Office
Monday’s meeting between Trump, Zelenskyy and European leaders ended with the White House calling a lid, CNN reported, indicating Trump would not be seen on camera for the rest of the day.
The U.S. president didn’t hesitate to share an update on Truth Social saying he had a “very good meeting” with Zelenskyy and European leaders saying they discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, to be provided by various European countries in coordination with the United States.
Trump wrote, “everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine.”
He continued, “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. After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself. Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years.”
“Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Ursula von der Leyen also took to social media after the meeting calling the meeting “an important moment, as we continue to work on strong security guarantees for Ukraine and a lasting and durable peace.”
She was echoed by President Macron, who wrote on X, “all the people around this table are for peace.”
Prime Minister Starmer posted, “Ukraine’s future matters to us all.”