The White House conferences have staged the next stages of the Russia-Ukraine peace process

President Donald Trump described his White House negotiations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his European leaders as “a very good early stage” to end the Russian-Ukrraine war of almost four years, announcing that he had already spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin of the organization of a direct meeting with Zelenskyy.

Trump said the world leaders have discussions on security guarantees for Ukraine, with commitments coming mainly from European nations “in coordination with the United States” in a press release after the meetings.

“Everyone is very happy with the possibility of peace for Russia / Ukraine,” said Trump, adding that Vice-President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and special envoy Steve Witkoff are now a leading plan with Moscow and Kyiv.

Zelenskyy reported that he was also ready to meet Putin directly.

Reading the Kremlin of Trump-Putin’s call confirmed that the pair “discussed the idea of increasing the level of Russian-Ukrainian direct negotiations”, but did not say if Putin had accepted.

Flashback: What happened as long as Zelenskyy met Trump in the oval office

President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, President of Finland, Alexander Stubb, NATO secretary general, Mark Rutte and the president of the European Commission Ursula Leyen poses for a family photo. House in Washington, August 18, 2025. (Alexander Drago / Reuters)

Trump describes the next steps

Trump revealed that after the oval office meetings, he called Putin to start taking “measures for a meeting, in a place to determine, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy”. If this takes place, he said, the next step would be a “trilat”-a trilateral meeting involving itself, Putin and Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy said it would be open to a meeting with Trump and Putin or a meeting with Putin afterwards.

“We have confirmed that we are ready for a trilateral meeting,” the Ukrainian president told journalists after the meeting. “And if Russia has proposed to the president of the bilateral United States, and then we will see the result of bilateral, then it can be trilateral. I therefore said, always, Ukraine will never stop on the path of peace, and we are ready for any format but at the level of leaders.”

President Donald Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Monday. (Getty Images)

While Trump previously threw himself as a mediator rather than a profession, the suggestion that Putin is open to meeting face to face with Zelenskyy has marked the greatest breakthrough of peace negotiations to date. “Once again, it was a very good early step for a war that has been going on for almost four years,” he said.

Security guarantees under discussion

The idea of “security guarantees” has long been at the heart of Ukraine’s requests. According to Trump, these are provided mainly by European states, coordinated with Washington. Before the meetings, Trump had not excluded American military participation in the guarantees, but he has since stressed that Europe will carry the main burden of the defense of Ukraine.

This photograph taken on January 23, 2024, most of whom are victims killed during the Russian strike last year in a store and a coffee in the village of Groza, in the Groza cemetery, in the Kharkiv region, in the middle of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Roman Pilipey / AFP via Getty Images)

Trump has also reiterated his point of view that American support should come from arms sales rather than help packages. “We don’t give anything. We sell weapons,” he said earlier this week. According to the Financial Times, Ukraine has launched a purchase proposal up to $ 100 billion in American manufacturing weapons with European funding.

Land exchanges can be on the table

During the meeting, Trump and Zelenskyy were photographed by looking at a card describing the war lines of the war and the Ukrainian territory currently occupied by Russia, around 20% of the country. Trump may have used the card to chat with Zelenskyy what regions he could separate realistically in order to obtain peace.

After a bilateral meeting, the two leaders met seven other European leaders. (Reuters / Alexander Draco)

According to a source familiar with the planning of Zelenskyy visits, clarity on American and European security guarantees could help the Ukrainian leader to plead at national level for all territorial concessions – a probable central element of interviews with Russia. The question of the regions of Ukraine could “let go” and what it must keep is deeply sensitive to kyiv, where public opinion has hardened after years of combat and heavy civil losses.

Russian drone Kill 7 strikes in Kharkiv at the Zelenskyy White House meeting with Trump

Categorical rejection of Russia

Moscow firmly opposed the concept of NATO style guarantees. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has published a statement during the talks of the White House warning that any arrangement involving NATO countries could trigger an “uncontrolled climbing” with unpredictable consequences “, according to the RIA state media. This categorical rejection highlights the difficulty of filling the gap between Ukraine’s security needs and Russia’s requests.

President Donald Trump (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) hold a meeting with Elmendorf-Richardson Base Base on August 15, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska. The two leaders meet for peace talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov (L) and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also joined the meeting. (Images Andrew Harnik / Getty)

European leaders weigh

The German Chancellor Merz stressed that no significant talks could occur without at least a temporary cease-fire.

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“I can’t imagine that the next meeting would be constantly held,” said Merz. “So let’s work on this and put pressure on Russia, because the credibility of these efforts depends on at least one cease-fire.”

Jacqui Heinrich de Fox News contributed to this report.