Trump, European leaders call for immediate ceasefire; trilateral meeting with Zelenskyy, Putin possible

After a high-stakes meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin that failed to produce a ceasefire, US President Donald Trump on Monday said a peace deal for the Ukraine war is within reach as he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European political heavy-hitters.

Trump, speaking with reporters present at the White House, said all would prefer an immediate ceasefire but that he was optimistic that an agreement can be reached to deter aggression in Ukraine.

Trump said he planned to hold a phone call with Putin following the talks, which also included German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Also attending were individuals Trump has struck a personal rapport with, including NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.


Calls for ceasefire
European leaders - who rushed to Washington in support of Ukraine - urged Trump to insist that Putin agree to a ceasefire before any talks can advance. Trump had previously backed that proposal but reversed course after meeting with Putin on Friday, instead adopting Moscow's position that any peace agreement be comprehensive.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he liked the concept of a ceasefire but that the two sides could work on a peace deal while the fighting continued.

"I wish they could stop, I'd like them to stop," he said. "But strategically that could be a disadvantage for one side or the other."

Both German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron both voiced support for a ceasefire as a prerequisite to any direct talks with Russia. Macron also said European leaders would need to be involved in subsequent meetings as well. "When we speak about security guarantees, we speak about the whole security of the European continent," he told Trump.

US backs European security guarantees
The US president also said he would back European security guarantees for Ukraine.

Trump stopped short of committing US troops to the effort, saying instead that there would be a “NATO-like” security presence but that all those details would be hashed out in their afternoon meeting with EU leaders.

“They want to give protection and they feel very strongly about it and we'll help them out with that,” Trump said. “I think its very important to get the deal done.”

Also while opening talks with the European leaders and Zelenskyy, Trump said that Putin has accepted Western security guarantees for Ukraine

"In a very significant step, President Putin agreed that Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine and this is one of the key points that we need to consider and we're going to be considering that at the table, also who will do what essentially," said Trump as he opened talks with European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.

"I think the European nations are going to take a lot of the burden. We're going to help them and we're going to make it very secure," he said.

Trump said he was ready to attend a trilateral meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy in the near future to reach a peace deal.

Zelensky hailed his meeting with Trump, saying it was "important that the United States gives such strong signals" about Western security guarantees.

The atmosphere was far calmer than when Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelensky in front of TV cameras less than six months ago for not being "grateful" for US support.

What happened in Alaska?

In the Friday meeting at a U.S. military base in Alaska, Trump adopted Putin's preference for pursuing a sweeping peace agreement that would require Ukraine to cede territory to Russia.

Trump rolled out a red carpet and applauded Putin, who is under U.S. sanctions and faces an international arrest warrant on war crimes charges. The two laughed and spoke warmly with each other.

At the meeting, Putin offered a ceasefire with Ukraine based on the current battle lines and a written promise not to attack Ukraine or any European country again. Putin has broken similar promises before.

Trump dropped his demand for an immediate ceasefire in favor of a rapid peace treaty that would require Ukraine to cede the Donbas region to Russia, even those areas not occupied by Russian troops.

Skipping ceasefire talks and going straight for a peace deal has been a demand of Putin in the long diplomatic effort to end the war in Ukraine, which began in 2022 when Russia invaded the country. Doing so would also allow Russia to go directly to negotiations over land swaps and other onerous demands on Ukraine.

Putin wants the Donbas
As a condition for peace, the Russian leader wants Kyiv to give up the Donbas, the industrial region in eastern Ukraine that has seen some of the most intense fighting but that Russian forces have failed to capture completely.

In his Sunday night post, Trump wrote that Zelenskyy should also accept Russia’s illegal 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region.

As part of a deal, Putin has said the United States and its European allies can provide Ukraine with a security guarantee resembling NATO’s collective defense pledge, according to a senior U.S. official.

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff called that a “game-changing” step though he offered few details on how it would work.

Ukraine has long pressed for some kind of guarantee that would prevent Russia from invading again.

'Really excited'
The Europeans lined up to praise Trump as they called for a lasting peace to end Russia's invasion.

"I'm really excited. Let's make the best out of today," NATO chief Mark Rutte said as the US president went round the table asking them to comment.

French President Emmanuel Macron, however, called for a separate four-way meeting including Europeans to deal with a grinding conflict that is on their doorstep.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz meanwhile contradicted Trump's call to go straight for a full peace deal instead of an immediate ceasefire, calling for a truce before any leaders' summit.

"Let's work on that and let's try to put pressure on Russia," Merz said.

The Trump-Putin summit in Alaska failed to produce a ceasefire in the nearly three-and-a-half-year war that began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Russian strikes overnight killed at least seven people in Ukraine, including two children.

In recent days, Russian forces broke through a section of Ukrainian defenses in the eastern Donbas region. Russian troops advanced about 10 miles, threatening to outflank Ukraine's positions.