President Donald Trump will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European leaders at the White House on Monday, as Washington intensifies efforts to broker a lasting peace agreement to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The announcement came on Saturday, shortly after Mr. Trump concluded a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. On his Truth Social platform, the U.S. president described the meeting with Putin as having “went very well,” noting that subsequent calls with Zelenskyy and European leaders were also productive.
“President Zelenskyy will be coming to D.C., the Oval Office, on Monday afternoon,” Mr. Trump confirmed. “If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin.”
Among those expected to join Zelenskyy in Washington are European and NATO officials, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who explained that her participation was “at the request of President Zelenskyy.”
Although the nearly three-hour meeting between Trump and Putin on Friday did not yield the ceasefire the U.S. administration initially sought, officials have now pivoted toward negotiating a more comprehensive peace deal. Analysts caution that this shift could strengthen Putin’s position at the bargaining table, diverging from the original U.S. and European objective of securing an immediate ceasefire.
Speaking on CBS’s Face the Nation, Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized the need for compromise: “Both sides are going to have to make concessions to get there,” he said. “We want to wind up with a peace deal that ends this war so Ukraine can go on with the rest of their lives and rebuild their country and be assured that this is never going to happen again.”
Rubio, who was present at the Alaska summit, confirmed that progress had been made toward narrowing differences between Kyiv and Moscow. Still, key issues remain unresolved, including territorial disputes, security guarantees for Ukraine, and reconstruction commitments.
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, speaking on CNN’s State of the Union, revealed that Putin had agreed to consider “game-changing” security guarantees from the U.S. and Europe. These may include a NATO-style defense arrangement providing “Article 5-like protection” to Ukraine, despite Putin’s long-standing opposition to Kyiv joining the alliance. Witkoff also disclosed that discussions may include the possibility of a land swap.
“We’re not waiting a week for a meeting with Zelenskyy and the European leaders,” Witkoff stated. “We are intent on trying to hammer out a peace deal that ends the fighting permanently, very, very quickly. Quicker than a ceasefire.”
In a Truth Social post on Sunday night, Mr. Trump added: “President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight. 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!!!”
Zelenskyy, writing on X, confirmed his arrival in Washington for the talks and reiterated Ukraine’s stance: “Russia must end this war, which it itself started. And I hope that our joint strength with America, with our European friends, will force Russia into a real peace.”
Meanwhile, Russian airstrikes continued across Ukraine ahead of the summit, hitting cities including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and Sumy. Ukrainian officials reported that a drone strike in Kharkiv killed a toddler, a 16-year-old, and five others.
“Despite all of the diplomacy and peace efforts, Russia continues to kill civilians,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on social media. “Russia is a murderous war machine that Ukraine is holding back. And it must be stopped through transatlantic unity and pressure. Moscow must stop the killing in order to advance diplomacy.”
Russian state media also reported that Ukraine carried out a drone strike in Donetsk overnight, killing a 62-year-old woman.
Monday’s meeting marks a pivotal moment in U.S. diplomacy, coming months after a tense February encounter between Mr. Trump, Zelenskyy, and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office, which exposed sharp divisions when Vance accused the Ukrainian leader of ingratitude. More recently, Trump has grown increasingly critical of Putin amid Russia’s intensified missile and drone attacks, including what Kyiv described as the most severe assault since the 2022 invasion began.
