Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump said Monday he has begun arranging a trilateral meeting between the United States, Russia, and Ukraine, following a day of high-level talks at the White House with European leaders.
The president first suggested the idea of a three-way meeting last week during a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. He raised it again on Monday during discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a group of European heads of state.
Attending the White House meeting were Zelensky, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
Trump said that after the main session, he called Putin and began laying the groundwork for a direct meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders. That bilateral meeting, Trump added, would be followed by a trilateral summit including himself.
“During the meeting we discussed Security Guarantees for Ukraine, which guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine.”
He continued, “At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelensky. After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself.”
The president concluded, “Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said, “I really want to thank you, President of the United States, dear Donald, for the fact that you, as I said before, broke the deadlock basically with President Putin by starting the dialogue … From there, here we are today.”
