Donald Trump has said that meetings with European leaders could pave the way for three-way talks between the leaders of Ukraine, Russia and the US amid his drive to end the fighting in eastern Europe.
The US president is hosting several European leaders at the White House on Monday, including the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office alongside Mr Zelensky, Mr Trump said he would phone the Russian president after the talks.
“I think if everything works out well today, we’ll have a trilat, and I think there will be a reasonable chance of ending the war when we do that,” the US president said.
He later added: “If we don’t have a trilat, then the fighting continues.”
Vladimir Putin, who Mr Trump met on Friday in Anchorage, Alaska, is set to receive a phone call once the talks have “finished”, the president said.
“We’re going to have a phone call right after these meetings today and we may or may not have a trilat.”
Asked about “Nato-like protection” for Ukraine, Donald Trump replied: “I don’t know if you define it that way, but Nato-like? I mean, we’re going to give, we have people waiting in another room right now, they’re all here, from Europe.
“Biggest people in Europe.
“And they want to give protection, they feel very strongly about it, and we’ll help them out with that.”
Mr Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff had suggested that measures similar to Nato’s article five mutual defence provision could be offered by the US without Kyiv joining the alliance.
The Ukrainian president wore a black shirt with buttons and a black blazer to the meeting at the White House.
His attire appeared to become a point of irritation for Mr Trump during a previous meeting in February, when he was wearing a black polo bearing the Ukrainian coat of arms and the US president said: “He’s all dressed up today.”
In their latest meeting, Mr Trump indicated he agreed with a reporter who described Mr Zelensky as looking “fabulous in that suit”.
Mr Zelensky earlier said he wanted to thank first lady of the United States Melania Trump, who on Friday penned a plea to Mr Putin, imploring him to protect the “innocence” of children.
“Undeniably, we must strive to paint a dignity-filled world for all – so that every soul may wake to peace and so that the future itself is perfectly guarded,” she wrote.
Mr Zelensky presented Mr Trump with a letter from his wife.
Sir Keir, who met with Mr Zelensky and several other European leaders on Monday before arriving at the White House, had earlier said in a video posted to X: “Everybody wants it to end, not least the Ukrainians.
“But we’ve got to get this right. We’ve got to make sure there is peace, that it is is lasting peace and that it is fair and that it is just.
“That’s why I’m travelling to Washington with other European leaders to discuss this face to face with President Trump and President Zelensky, because it’s in everyone’s interests, it’s in the UK’s interests that we get this right.”
