United States President Donald Trump told President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday that the U.S. would help guarantee Ukraine’s security in any deal to end the war with Russia.
Trump made the pledge during an extraordinary summit at the White House, where he hosted Zelensky and a group of European allies following his meeting on Friday in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“When it comes to security, there’s going to be a lot of help,” Trump told reporters, adding that European countries would be involved.
“They are a first line of defence because they’re there, but we’ll help them out,” he said.
Zelensky hailed the promise as “a major step forward,” adding that the guarantees would be “formalized on paper within the next week to 10 days” and saying Ukraine offered to buy about $90 billion worth of U.S. weapons.
The tone on Monday was much warmer than a disastrous Oval Office meeting that saw Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly criticize the Ukrainian leader in February.
But a peace deal still appeared far from imminent, according to Reuters.
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Just before the talks began, Russia’s Foreign Ministry ruled out the deployment of troops from NATO countries to help secure a peace deal, adding complications to Trump’s offer.
Both Trump and Zelensky said they hoped Monday’s gathering would eventually lead to three-way talks with Putin, whose forces have been slowly grinding forward in eastern Ukraine.
In a social media post late on Monday, Trump said he had called the Russian leader and begun arranging a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, to be followed by a trilateral summit among the three presidents.
Trump told European leaders that Putin suggested that sequence, according to a source in the European delegation.
While the Kremlin has not publicly announced its agreement, a senior U.S. administration official said the Putin-Zelensky meeting could take place in Hungary.
The pair will meet within the next two weeks, according to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
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