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Zelenskyy to meet Trump on Monday after Putin summit briefing Zelenskyy to meet Trump on Monday after Putin summit briefing
(about 3 hours later)
Ukrainian president to make first return to White House since infamous row with Trump in FebruaryUkrainian president to make first return to White House since infamous row with Trump in February
Zelenskyy to meet US president in Washington on Monday after Trump-Putin summit ends without deal – liveZelenskyy to meet US president in Washington on Monday after Trump-Putin summit ends without deal – live
Ukraine’s president said he would fly to Washington on Monday to meet with Donald Trump after a telephone call with the US president in which he was briefed on the key points of the Alaska summit. The meeting will mark the first return to the White House for Volodymyr Zelenskyy since his infamous row with Trump in late February. Ukraine’s president has said he will fly to Washington on Monday to meet Donald Trump after an hour long call with the US president in which he was briefed on the key points of the Alaska summit with Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy said that his hour-long one-on-one conversation with Trump was “long and substantive”. Next week’s meeting will mark the first return to the White House for Volodymyr Zelenskyy since his infamous row with Trump and the vice-president, JD Vance, in the Oval Office in February.
“President Trump informed [me] about his meeting with the Russian leader and the main points of their discussion,” Zelenskyy wrote, adding that Ukraine supported Trump’s proposal for a trilateral meeting between the two men and Vladimir Putin. “President Trump informed [me] about his meeting with the Russian leader and the main points of their discussion,” Zelenskyy wrote, adding that Ukraine supported Trump’s proposal for a trilateral meeting between the three leaders.
Zelenskyy did not spell out what the key points of discussion between Trump and Putin were, while the president’s chief communications adviser said that they “haven’t heard anything” about a possible air ceasefire before a leaders summit in response to a social media post from a journalist. Zelenskyy did not spell out the key points of discussion between Trump and Putin. Later, the president’s chief communications adviser said they “haven’t heard anything” about a possible air ceasefire before a trilateral summit, a proposal posted on social media by a journalist.
Trump told Fox News after the summit that the swapping of territory in Ukraine was discussed with Putin – something Zelenskyy has repeatedly ruled out.
“I think those are points that we negotiated, and those are points that we largely have agreed on,” the US president said. “I think we’re pretty close to a deal,” he added : “Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they’ll say no.”
Trump said he expected to see Zelenskyy on Monday afternoon in a posting on Truth Social following the call, and said “if all works out we then will schedule a meeting with president Putin” though the Russian leader has previously been reluctant to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart.
The US president also said “the best way to end the horrific war” would be “to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up”, although with Russia and Ukraine far apart in their demands, it is not clear how easily that can be achieved.
European leaders joined the call for a further half an hour, Zelenskyy added, emphasising that “it is important that Europeans are involved at every stage to ensure reliable security guarantees together with America”.European leaders joined the call for a further half an hour, Zelenskyy added, emphasising that “it is important that Europeans are involved at every stage to ensure reliable security guarantees together with America”.
There were also “positive signals” from the US, Zelenskyy said, “regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine’s security”, echoing diplomatic language from last week in the run-up to the summit. Those joining the Trump-Zelenskyy call included UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, French president, Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.
Others dialling in included Poland’s president, Karol Nawrocki, Finland’s president, Alexander Stubb, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Shortly after, a second phone call took place, this time between Zelenskyy and various European leaders, to discuss what they had learned from Trump’s account of his meeting with Putin.
There were “positive signals” from the US, Zelenskyy said in his update, “regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine’s security”, echoing diplomatic language from last week in the run-up to the summit.
Previously, the US has declined to spell out how it might help prevent a future outbreak of fighting as part of a peace agreement, leading to speculation that Washington was looking to leave the safeguarding of Ukraine almost entirely to Europe.Previously, the US has declined to spell out how it might help prevent a future outbreak of fighting as part of a peace agreement, leading to speculation that Washington was looking to leave the safeguarding of Ukraine almost entirely to Europe.
A joint statement from the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland and the EU thanked Trump for his mediation efforts – and said they hoped to work towards “a trilateral summit with European support”.
The group said Ukraine “must have ironclad security guarantees” and welcomed Trump’s statement that “the US is prepared to give security guarantees”. Reuters reported that there was a discussion of extending a Nato-style guarantee to Ukraine, though it was not clear what the US position on this was.
The leaders also declared “it will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory” and that “international borders must not be changed by force”. The group said they would be willing to implement further economic sanctions against Russia if necessary.
In a separate statement, Starmer said that “while progress has been made” that “the next step must be further talks involving president Zelenskyy” and emphasised that “the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without him”.
Meloni said “the most interesting developments” at the summit were regarding future security guarantees for Ukraine. She highlighted an earlier Italian proposal “inspired by Nato’s article 5”, a clause that states alliance members will come to each other’s aid if one is attacked.
“The starting point of the proposal is the definition of a collective security clause that would allow Ukraine to benefit from the support of all its partners, including the USA, ready to take action in case it is attacked again,” she said.
Pressure on Russia had to be maintained, Macron said in a social media post. “Any lasting peace must be accompanied by unwavering security guarantees,” he added, welcoming “the readiness of the United States to contribute”.
Meanwhile, fighting continued for the 1,270th day since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Three people were killed and 12 wounded in the southern frontline region of Kherson, its governor reported on Saturday.
Ukraine’s Azov brigade said it cleared Russian saboteur groups from six villages as it began to close down a breach in the frontline near Dobropillya, in the eastern Donetsk province. The unit claimed it had killed 271 Russian soldiers and wounded 101.
Ukraine’s air force said one ballistic missile and 85 drones and decoys were launched into the country, and it had shot down 61 of the latter. Russia said it had taken two villages on the frontline and Ukraine said it had lost a third village near Pokrovsk.