What Trump and Zelenskyy Discussed in Washington? (Updating)
U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held talks at the White House on Monday, focusing on the ongoing war, security guarantees for Kyiv, and the prospects of broader cooperation.
The Gaze reports on it, referring to Fox News.
At the beginning of the meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a letter from his wife, First Lady Olena Zelenska, to U.S. First Lady Melania Trump. The letter expressed gratitude for Melania Trump’s earlier “peace message” addressed to Vladimir Putin, in which she urged him to protect future generations.
Then Zelenskyy thanked Donald Trump for his efforts to end the war. In turn, Trump began by underlining the significance of the gathering. “Today’s meeting in Washington is very important,” he said, thanking participants and noting, “There’s a chance something will come out of this.”
Pressed on whether he truly believed Ukraine should end the war launched by Russia, Trump replied: “Yes, I think that’s right. We’ll have a meeting, and if it goes well, there will also be a trilateral meeting. There’s a very substantial chance we will succeed.”
The U.S. president stressed urgency. “We must get to the end of this path because people are dying on the front, and in very large numbers. I believe Putin also wants to stop this,” he added.
Later, he repeated: “I don’t know when or how the war will end, but this war will end. We will make sure this war ends.” He added that he had already ended six wars but acknowledged that “the war in Ukraine may be the toughest one.”
Trump stressed that any peace agreement should be durable, noting that the goal is to secure a long-term settlement rather than a temporary truce that could collapse within a couple of years. He also made clear that while the United States does not back Ukraine’s accession to NATO, it is prepared to provide Kyiv with explicit security guarantees.
The U.S. president added that discussions would continue with European leaders: “We are also meeting with seven great leaders of great countries, and we will talk about this. They will all be involved, but there will be a lot of assistance. In terms of security, the assistance will be significant. European countries are the first line of defense, but the U.S. will also help. We will be involved.”
Trump underlined that Ukraine alone must decide on territorial questions: “Territorial questions can only be resolved by Ukraine. The U.S. can play the role of shuttle diplomacy, bringing back proposals from the Russians. But agreeing or not – that is Ukraine’s decision.”
He also hinted that Moscow’s demands had been scaled back compared to 2024, when Russia insisted on four regions plus Crimea, “denazification,” and “demilitarization.”
Nevertheless, Trump confirmed he would follow the talks with a phone call to the Russian president. “I will be speaking with Putin after my meeting with Zelenskyy. He is waiting for my call,” Trump said.