WASHINGTON, D.C. —U.S. President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a group of European leaders. They convened in the Oval Office on Monday to discuss strategies for restoring peace in Ukraine. Zelenskyy called the meeting his “best” with Trump so far. It comes after a recent summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and shows that the relationship between the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents has gotten much better.
The most important thing to come out of the meetings was Trump’s revelation that he is making plans for a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in person. Trump said on his Truth Social platform that he called Putin and that they would meet at a spot that had not yet been decided. He also said that if this first meeting goes well, there will be a trilateral summit with him, Putin, and Zelenskyy. A source who knows about the conversations says that Putin has said he is willing to meet with the leader of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy’s behavior and clothes showed that the mood had improved. Zelenskyy donned a black jacket over a buttoned black shirt this time, which was different from the military-style gear he wore on his last visit in February. This made Trump happy. Zelenskyy’s many thanks were very different from the public condemnation he got from U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance a few months ago.
NATO Membership and Security Guarantees
Even though a final peace settlement is still out of reach, the leaders made a lot of headway on the problem of Ukraine’s long-term security. Trump said that Ukraine could not fully join NATO, but he did favor “Article 5-like” security guarantees for Ukraine from its European friends, with the U.S. pledging to help. People are seeing this method, which is similar to NATO’s collective defense mission but without the official alliance, as a possible breakthrough and a way to get around Putin’s long-standing opposition to Ukraine’s NATO goals.
Zelenskyy was happy with this help and said that a package of U.S. armaments, including planes and air defense systems, is part of a security assurance. He thinks that the specifics of the promises will be worked out and “put down on paper” in the next week to ten days.
The leaders of Europe who were there, such as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, all agreed and complimented Trump’s attempts to stop the war. They stressed the necessity for a “just and lasting peace” and strong security assurances for Ukraine to stop Russia from attacking again in the future.
Even while things are getting better, there are still problems. There is still disagreement about giving up land, especially in Crimea and the Donbas region. But the fact that both Trump and Zelenskyy are eager to move on with direct talks between the warring sides has given the long-stalled peace process a new sense of hope.