Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy returned to the White House on Monday for a high-stakes meeting with US President Donald Trump, and indicated that he was open to a trilateral meeting with Russia.
Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy, who was dressed in his customary fatigues as well as a black suit-like jacket that the US leader appeared to compliment, shook hands outside the White House before their meeting.
Asked if he had a message for the people of Ukraine, Mr Trump said: "We love them."
The two leaders then moved to the Oval Office, where the meeting started out much more amicably than the last time Mr Zelenskyy set foot in the White House, on February 28, in what ended up being a disastrous meeting between the two leaders.
Then, Mr Trump and Vice President JD Vance were openly hostile towards the Ukrainian leader and the meeting devolved into a shouting match – with the loudest voices being those of the two Americans – that ended with Mr Zelenskyy and his team leaving early.
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Left to right, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen; UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer; Finnish President Alexander Stubb; Mr Zelenskyy; Mr Trump; French President Emmanuel Macron; Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni; German Chancellor Friedrich Merz; and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte pose for a 'family photo' in the White House. PA -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump shake hands during a meeting in the Oval Office. AFP -
Mr Trump leads Mr Zelenskyy and other invited European leaders through the Cross Hall of the White House. PA -
Mr Trump leads European leaders for a ‘family photo’ in the Cross Hall of the White House. EPA -
The leaders gather in the White House for a multilateral meeting in the East Room. PA -
Police officers stand guard as people demonstrate in support of Ukraine in Washington. Reuters -
Mr Zelenskyy and Mr Trump during the Oval Office meeting. AFP -
Mr Zelenskyy is greeted by Mr Trump on arrival at the White House. AFP -
Members of a US Colour Guard carry US and Ukrainian flags outside the White House. Bloomberg -
Mr Zelenskyy meets European leaders at the Ukrainian embassy in Washington. EPA -
French President Emmanuel Macron arrives at the White House. AFP -
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrives. AP -
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is greeted by the US Chief of Protocol Monica Crowley on arrival at the White House. AFP -
Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrives at the White House. AFP
The two sides have since made up, with a positive encounter on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral, but Monday’s meeting may well be the most consequential, with the fate of Ukraine's territorial integrity on the line.
"I think we showed that we are strong people, and we supported the idea of the United States of President Trump to stop this war, to make a diplomatic way of finishing this war," Mr Zelenskyy told reporters. "We are ready for a trilateral [meeting with Russia], as the President said."
Mr Trump said that he would be speaking with Mr Putin by phone after meeting Mr Zelenskyy and European leaders. "We may or may not have a trilat," he said.
The President also said he was open to the US playing an important role in security guarantees for Kyiv if it means a lasting resolution to the conflict. "We're going to be discussing it today, but we will give them very good protection, very good security," Mr Trump said.
After the bilateral meeting, Mr Trump and Mr Zelenksyy met European leaders including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy spoke positively of their meeting. "We will come to a resolution today, I think, on almost everything, including probably the security," Mr Trump said before the meeting with European leaders.
Mr Zelenskyy said: "I think that we had very good conversation with President Trump, very good."
The European leaders stressed the importance of the meeting, which could result in security guarantees for Ukraine, and returning kidnapped and imprisoned Ukrainians to their homes.
“When we speak about security guarantees, we speak about the whole security of the European continent,” Mr Macron said.
The meeting comes three days after Mr Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska to discuss the war.
He had hoped to walk away with a ceasefire deal but instead returned to Washington empty-handed. Special envoy Steve Witkoff told CNN that Mr Trump and Mr Putin had agreed that the US would be able to offer "Article 5-like" security guarantees to Ukraine.
“The only way to have a ceasefire is for both sides to agree to stop firing at one another and the Russians just haven't agreed to that,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC on Sunday.
Mr Rubio said for a peace deal to be reached, “each side is going to have to give up on something".
Mr Zelenskyy has stated his opposition to any deal under which Ukraine would lose more territory. Russia, which took control of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, occupies about 20 per cent of Ukraine and Kyiv has been unable to win it back on the battlefield.
“Here's the bottom line," Mr Rubio said. "We all know what the elements of such a deal are. There has to be talk about what the territories are going to look like and what the border lines are going to look like at the end of this conflict.
“There has to be talk about Ukraine's legitimate desire for security in the long term to make sure they don't get invaded again. There has to be talk about how Ukraine is rebuilt and how you rebuild a country that's been attacked as often as it has over the last three and a half years. These are all key elements of any agreement – we understand that.”
The Trump administration briefed the Ukrainians and European allies immediately after the meeting with Mr Putin and are trying to move as quickly as possible with Monday’s in-person meeting.
On Sunday evening, Mr Trump took to Truth Social to once again apply public pressure on the embattled wartime President.
"President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight," Mr Trump wrote. "Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and no going into Nato by Ukraine. Some things never change."
Still, he expressed optimism over the Oval Office meeting.
"A big day at the White House. We have never had so many European leaders here at one time. A great honour for America. Lets see what the results will be?" he wrote in another post.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 amid fears that Ukraine was seeking to join Nato, as well as the EU. Moscow has said it aims to protect Russian-speaking people in eastern Ukraine, and to "de-nazify" the country.
