‘We had a truly warm, good and substantial conversation,’ says Zelenskyy after meeting Trump

Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump says he has called Russian President Vladimir Putin and begun to arrange a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a critical step toward bringing a possible end to Russia’s war on Ukraine. Trump said the meeting’s location will be determined later.

Trump, Zelenskyy and European leaders met at the White House earlier Monday for hastily assembled multilateral talks, which came after Trump met with Putin on Aug. 15 and shut the other leaders out. European political leaders joined discussions as they pursue means to safeguard Ukraine and the continent from any widening aggression from Moscow.

‘Fruitful’ conversation

Zelenskyy says that if he starts to set conditions for the meeting, regarding a potential ceasefire or other matters, then Russia will want to set conditions, too, potentially jeopardizing those talks.

“That’s why I believe that we must meet without any conditions,” he told reporters.

Zelenskyy said Trump showed him a map of the Ukraine front lines in the Oval Office and they got into a little debate about territories it showed. But they didn’t argue, he said.

“We had a truly warm, good and substantial conversation,” Zelenskyy said.

The “most important” outcome of the meeting was the “U.S. commitment to work with us on providing security guarantees” to Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron said.

Macron told reporters that the participants of Monday’s talks are willing to set up a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy “in the coming days” and the trilateral meeting including Trump “by two to three weeks.”

Macron said he has “the greatest doubt” about Putin’s will to stop the war.

The NATO leader also heaped praise on Trump for convincing European nations to increase their own defense spending.

“Today the conversation was a conversation among friends, among close allies who respect each other, who like each other, who know each other very well, discussing how we can bring this terrible war to an end,” he said. “This is a goal we all have in common, and without President Trump this deadlock with Putin would not have been broken. He’s the only one who could do it.”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte says Trump agreed that the United States would contribute to Ukraine’s security following a peace deal, a development he called “a breakthrough.”

Membership in NATO is not on the table, but the U.S. and European leaders are discussing “Article 5 kind of security guarantees for Ukraine,” Rutte said in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham. Article 5 of the NATO treaty says an attack on one member nation is an attack on all members, the heart of the transatlantic defense compact.

Details around U.S. involvement in Ukraine “will be discussed over the coming days,” which will give Zelenskyy the clarity he needs to decide whether Ukrainians can remain safe following a peace deal.

“It is important to also know what the situation will be with the security guarantees to prevent Vladimir Putin from ever, ever trying again to invade parts of Ukraine,” Rutte said.

The possibility of U.S. troops in Ukraine was not discussed Monday, he said.

Zelenskyy said Russia first suggested that Ukraine and Russia meet one on one, to be followed by a three-way meeting that would include Trump.

Briefing reporters after the White House talks, Zelenskyy said “we are ready” for any leader-level meetings. He said it’s the only way to solve these “complicated and painful issues.”

No date has been set for him and Putin to meet, he said.

He says the Europeans were well-prepared and well-coordinated. He said Trump “noticed that we Europeans are speaking with one voice; that was … particularly important.”

The German chancellor gave a positive assessment of the lengthy talks.

“I don’t want to hide the fact that I wasn’t sure it would go this way — it could have gone differently,” he said. “But my expectations were not just met, they were exceeded.”

He said Trump had also been “very open for humanitarian questions,” and the issue of thousands of children abducted from Ukraine had been discussed.

The German chancellor said the Europeans and Americans will need to discuss who participates in the security guarantees and to what extent. “It’s completely clear that the whole of Europe should participate,” he said.

“This is not just about the territory of Ukraine,” he added. “It’s about the political order of Europe.”

Asked about the possibility of German peacekeeping troops, he said it was too early to give a final answer.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Trump, in his call with Putin, “agreed that there will be a meeting between the Russian president and the Ukrainian president within the next two weeks.” He said the venue must still be agreed upon.

Merz said that such a meeting “must, like all meetings, be well-prepared; we will do this with President Zelenskyy.” He said he doesn’t currently know what the meeting could produce.

Merz reiterated that it would be “desirable, and more than that, that there be a ceasefire in Ukraine at the latest with this meeting.”

“President Zelenskyy, for his part, said that he can hardly imagine having such a meeting with Putin without there being a ceasefire,” he added.

Russia state news agency Tass cited Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov as saying the two presidents “spoke in favor” of continuing direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations.

Ushakov said they also discussed “the idea of raising the level of the direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations.”

After meeting with Zelenskyy and European leaders, Trump said on social media that he called Putin and began the arrangements for a meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, at a location to be determined.

Trump said he will then sit down with both leaders after that meeting.

“This was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years,” he said.

He said Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine.

Washington has been informed about the intent for the National Guard to be armed, though it has not received details about when that could happen or where armed Guard members could be deployed in D.C., according to a person familiar who was not authorized to disclose the plans and spoke on condition of anonymity.

It would be a departure from what the Pentagon and Army have said about the troops being unarmed. The Army said in a statement last week that “weapons are available if needed but will remain in the armory.”

Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson also said last week that troops won’t be armed.

In response to questions about whether Guard members in Washington would be armed in the coming days, the District of Columbia National Guard said troops “may be armed consistent with their mission and training.”

Maj. Melissa Heintz, a spokesperson for the D.C. Guard, didn’t provide more details and said “their presence is focused on supporting civil authorities and ensuring the safety of the community they serve.” (Agencies)