US President Donald Trump has taken a decisive step toward brokering an end to the nearly four-year-long conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In a significant move following his meetings with European leaders at the White House on Monday, Trump announced he has begun the process of arranging a direct meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Writing on his social media platform, Trump detailed the phone call he held with Putin to initiate the summit.
"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 Zelenskyyy," Trump wrote.
He further explained that a subsequent trilateral meeting, including himself, would follow. "After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself. Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years."
The announcement comes after a day of high-stakes negotiations in Washington focused on security guarantees for Ukraine. Trump stated that these guarantees "would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America." He expressed optimism about the potential for a resolution, writing, "Everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine."
The day's events began with a separate one-on-one meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy, which the Ukrainian leader described in positive terms. Following that discussion, Zelenskyy provided an upbeat assessment.
"We had a very good conversation with President Trump, and it really was the best one -- or, sorry, maybe the best one will be in the future," Zelenskyy said.
Trump then held a meeting with Zelenskyy and the expanded group of European leaders. After the multilateral meeting with European leaders concluded, Zelenskyy’s spokesperson, Serhiy Nykyforov, said discussions would continue in a different format.
The White House confirmed the conclusion of the initial meeting but offered no further details on subsequent talks.