President Trump embraced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House and voiced optimism Russia will come to the table to end its brutal war against Kyiv, even as questions linger over unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine in a potential peace deal.
Trump used Monday's Oval Office appearance with Zelensky to amp up pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to join trilateral talks to end the war, while an extraordinary delegation of seven European leaders, during their own White House meeting, sought to bolster Ukraine's negotiating position.
Later, Trump said he spoke with Putin and began arranging a potential bilateral meeting between the Russian leader and Zelensky at a time and location to be determined. It would mark the first face-to-face meeting between Putin and Zelensky since Russia's full invasion in February 2022.
"After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself," Trump posted on Truth Social. "Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years."
SUIT UP: Monday's visit by Zelensky marked a 180-degree flip in tone and friendliness compared to the Ukrainian leader's disastrous February visit that ended in a televised shouting match inside the Oval Office.
Zelensky showed up at the White House on Monday in an all-black suit sans tie, a noticeable change from his standard military outfit earlier this year that won immediate praise from Trump. "I cannot believe it, I love it," Trump said upon greeting Zelensky.
The Ukrainian leader opened his remarks by touting a letter first lady Melania Trump wrote to Putin raising concerns about the plight of children amid Russia's invasion, a moment that seemed to resonate with the president. Zelensky thanked Trump nearly a dozen times in the opening minutes of the meeting, after sparking Vice President Vance's ire earlier this year for a perceived lack of gratefulness over U.S. military aid.
And Trump and Zelensky repeatedly dodged when pressed by reporters on issues in which they have disagreed, with Trump passing on a chance to swipe at Zelensky for not holding wartime elections and joking it'd be something he might consider. Earlier this year, he had called Zelensky a "dictator without elections" and declared he didn't hold cards in the war.
The Hill's Niall Stanage has five key takeaways from Monday's meeting.
UNITED FRONT: Trump, Zelensky and other European leaders projected a unified front during Monday's gathering. The leaders all spoke about their desire to end the war, though some sticking points emerged throughout the afternoon.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz argued there should be no follow-up meeting with Putin without a ceasefire agreement. Trump shrugged off the suggestion, insisting a ceasefire was not a prerequisite to obtaining a peace agreement.
Trump has said it will be up to Ukraine to determine the issue of potential territorial concessions as part of any peace agreement, though he has at times indicated there will need to be "land swaps."
It's a marked reversal for Trump, who ahead of his summit with Putin last week in Alaska declared he was "not going to be happy" if he left Anchorage without promises for a ceasefire and there would be "severe consequences."
The president has since embraced Putin's plan for peace: a broader agreement that includes territorial losses for Kyiv.
▪ The Washington Post: In maps, the Ukrainian territory Russia controls — and wants to keep.
▪ The Hill: What could Article 5-like security guarantees look like for Ukraine?
▪ The New York Times: Can Zelensky trust Trump? Ukraine's fate may depend on the answer.
BALL IN PUTIN'S COURT: It's now up to the Kremlin to respond to Trump and the West. While Zelensky and the Europeans met with Trump at the White House, Russian attacks on large Ukrainian cities and villages near the front killed 14 people and injured dozens more.
But even if Putin agrees to the meetings with Zelensky and Trump, experts question the Russian leader's commitment to a peace process.
Matthew Boyse, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center on Europe and Eurasia, told Morning Report that Putin sees Trump's efforts to end the war as an opportunity to lock in territorial gains he was unable to secure on the battlefield — from Crimea to the Donetsk region.
"By excluding a ceasefire from discussion, Putin can continue attacking Ukrainian civilians with impunity while the process — undefined in length and with unclear modalities — plays out," Boyse said. "By signaling a vague openness to compromise, he plays with everyone's hopes for an end to the war — all while reiterating his maximalist demands."
Steven Pifer, a former U.S. diplomat affiliated with Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation and the Brookings Institution, echoed those concerns.
Putin believes he can prevail on the battlefield, Pifer told us, adding his terms for peace are not close to anything Ukraine would be willing to accept.
"Putin will only be prepared to bargain in a serious way when he is persuaded that he cannot achieve his goals on the battlefield and that the military, economic and political costs of continuing to try will only escalate," Pifer added. "Unfortunately, President Trump has not put in play the kind of cards … that might begin to change Putin's mind."
After Monday's meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron praised Trump's optimism for a deal but expressed pessimism at Putin's willingness to resolve the conflict.
"A great deal is a deal with security guarantees and a robust peace," Macron told NBC News. "As far as I'm concerned, when I look at the situation and the facts, I don't see President Putin really willing to get peace now, but perhaps I'm, I'm too pessimistic."
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