Donald Trump Says He's Setting Up Direct Meeting For Zelensky, Putin Over Ukraine Truce

US President Donald Trump says he has called Russian President Vladimir Putin and begun to arrange a meeting between President Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a critical step toward bringing a possible end to Russia's war on Ukraine. President Trump said the meeting's location will be determined later.

President Trump, President Zelensky, and European leaders met at the White House earlier Monday for hastily assembled multilateral talks, which came after Trump met with President Putin on August 15 and shut the other leaders out. European political leaders joined discussions as they pursue means to safeguard Ukraine and the continent from any widening aggression from Moscow.

Here's the latest:

President Trump, who bragged on numerous occasions during the campaign that he could settle Russia's war in Ukraine in a day, said repeatedly Monday that it was far more complicated than he ever thought it would be.

But he also suggested — likely implausibly — that the fighting that has raged for years could wind down quickly.

“A week or two weeks, we'll know whether we're going to solve this, or if this horrible fighting is going to continue,” said President Trump, even suggesting the issues yet to be hammered out weren't “overly complex.”

Still, much remains unresolved, including red lines that are incompatible — like whether Ukraine will cede any land to Russia, the future of Ukraine's army, and whether the country will ultimately have lasting and meaningful security guarantees.

“There is an upside to all the professional hours lawyers spend in disagreement,” Amy Coney Barrett said at a judicial conference in Chicago. ”... We know how to argue, but we know how to do it without letting it consume relationships.”

Her remarks come as US Supreme Court justices have clashed over the court's handling of a flood of emergency appeals from the Trump administration. Trump administration lawyers have used emergency appeals to fast-track cases to the Supreme Court, clearing the way for firing thousands of federal workers, stripping legal protections for immigrants, and removing transgender service members from the military.

Liberal Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor have criticised the practice, once used sparingly under previous presidencies, with Ms Sotomayor complaining that “the administration has the Supreme Court on speed dial.”

President Zelensky says that if he starts to set conditions for the meeting, regarding a potential ceasefire or other matters, then Russia will want to set conditions, too, potentially jeopardising those talks.

“That's why I believe that we must meet without any conditions,” he told reporters.

President Zelensky said President Trump showed him a map of the Ukraine front lines in the Oval Office, and they got into a little debate about the territories it showed. But they didn't argue, he said.

“We had a truly warm, good, and substantial conversation,” President Zelensky said.

The “most important” outcome of the meeting was the “US commitment to work with us on providing security guarantees” to Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron said.

President Macron told reporters that the participants of Monday's talks are willing to set up a bilateral meeting between President Putin and President Zelensky “in the coming days” and the trilateral meeting, including President Trump, "by two to three weeks.”

President Macron said he has “the greatest doubt” about President Putin's will to stop the war.

The NATO leader also heaped praise on President Trump for convincing European nations to increase their own defence spending.

“Today the conversation was a conversation among friends, among close allies who respect each other, who like each other, who know each other very well, discussing how we can bring this terrible war to an end,” he said. “This is a goal we all have in common, and without President Trump, this deadlock with President Putin would not have been broken. He's the only one who could do it.”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte says Trump agreed that the United States would contribute to Ukraine's security following a peace deal, a development he called “a breakthrough.”

Membership in NATO is not on the table, but the US and European leaders are discussing “Article 5 kind of security guarantees for Ukraine,” Secretary General Rutte said in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham. Article 5 of the NATO treaty says an attack on one member nation is an attack on all members, the heart of the transatlantic defence compact.

Details around US involvement in Ukraine “will be discussed over the coming days,” which will give President Zelensky the clarity he needs to decide whether Ukrainians can remain safe following a peace deal.

“It is important to also know what the situation will be with the security guarantees to prevent Vladimir Putin from ever, ever trying again to invade parts of Ukraine,” Mr Rutte said.

The possibility of US troops in Ukraine was not discussed on Monday, he said.

President Zelensky said Russia first suggested that Ukraine and Russia meet one-on-one, to be followed by a three-way meeting that would include President Trump.

Briefing reporters after the White House talks, President Zelensky said, “We are ready” for any leader-level meetings. He said it's the only way to solve these “complicated and painful issues.”

No date has been set for him and President Putin to meet, he said.

He says the Europeans were well-prepared and well-coordinated. He said President Trump “noticed that we Europeans are speaking with one voice; that was … particularly important.”

The German chancellor gave a positive assessment of the lengthy talks.

“I don't want to hide the fact that I wasn't sure it would go this way — it could have gone differently,” he said. “But my expectations were not just met, they were exceeded.”

He said President Trump had also been “very open for humanitarian questions,” and the issue of thousands of children abducted from Ukraine had been discussed.

The German chancellor said the Europeans and Americans will need to discuss who participates in the security guarantees and to what extent. “It's completely clear that the whole of Europe should participate,” he said.

“This is not just about the territory of Ukraine,” he added. “It's about the political order of Europe.”

Asked about the possibility of German peacekeeping troops, he said it was too early to give a final answer.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said President Trump, in his call with President Putin, “agreed that there will be a meeting between the Russian president and the Ukrainian president within the next two weeks.” He said the venue must still be agreed upon.

Chancellor Merz said that such a meeting “must, like all meetings, be well-prepared; we will do this with President Zelensky.” He said he doesn't currently know what the meeting could produce.

Chancellor Merz reiterated that it would be “desirable, and more than that, that there be a ceasefire in Ukraine at the latest with this meeting.”

“President Zelensky, for his part, said that he can hardly imagine having such a meeting with Putin without there being a ceasefire,” he added.

Russia's state news agency Tass cited President Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, as saying the two presidents “spoke in favour” of continuing direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations.

Mr Ushakov said they also discussed “the idea of raising the level of the direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations.”

After meeting with President Zelensky and European leaders, President Trump said on social media that he called President Putin and began the arrangements for a meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine at a location to be determined.

President Trump said he will then sit down with both leaders after that meeting.

“This was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years,” he said.

He said Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and special envoy Steve Witkoff are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine.

Washington has been informed about the intent for the National Guard to be armed, though it has not received details about when that could happen or where armed Guard members could be deployed in DC, according to a person familiar who was not authorised to disclose the plans and spoke on condition of anonymity.

It would be a departure from what the Pentagon and Army have said about the troops being unarmed. The Army said in a statement last week that “weapons are available if needed but will remain in the armoury.”

Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson also said last week that troops won't be armed.

In response to questions about whether Guard members in Washington would be armed in the coming days, the District of Columbia National Guard said troops “may be armed consistent with their mission and training.”

Major Melissa Heintz, a spokesperson for the DC Guard, didn't provide more details and said “their presence is focused on supporting civil authorities and ensuring the safety of the community they serve.”

“The East Room multilateral meeting has ended,” the White House said in a notice to the media.

President Trump had said they would visit the Oval Office before heading back to their respective countries.

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who has co-sponsored a bill imposing sanctions on Russia with GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, said Monday there is a “lot of reason for scepticism and doubt.”

“All the talk about security guarantees, about a Putin-Zelensky meeting, about positive steps forward. All of it is coming from Trump and (special envoy Steve) Witkoff, not from Putin,” Senator Blumenthal told The Associated Press.

He added that he believes President Putin has “an incentive to prolong peace efforts and continue to play rope-a-dope with Trump.”

The Trump administration is siding with a Louisiana school district that says it should be released from decades-old desegregation orders that some advocates say are still needed to address racial disparities.

In a motion filed Friday, the Justice Department and the Concordia Parish School Board agreed to dismiss a 1960s case that required the small district to integrate its public schools. Court orders have remained in place to address the lingering impact of segregation.

US District Judge Dee Drell has yet to decide on the request.

The Justice Department and Louisiana's attorney general have worked to end older desegregation cases they say are no longer needed. In April, they lifted a 1965 order in Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish.

Concordia's filing says the orders interfere with its local control.

In July, the NAACP Legal Defence Fund filed a brief arguing that there is “significant evidence that vestiges of discrimination continue to harm Black students” in Concordia's schools.

It came as he closed the open session with European leaders about pursuing an end to Russia's war in Ukraine.

Known for blasting the news media and punishing outlets he doesn't agree with, President Trump said: “The media's been actually very fair, generally speaking, very fair.”

“I think it's very important that they're fair, because this is a very important subject to get it ended,” he said. “So that's all we ever ask for, is fairness.”

With that, President Trump was dismissing the gathered press when Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, seated next to President Trump, leaned over to thank him and laughed, saying, “I never want to speak with my press.”

A focal point for negotiations on ending the war with Russia has been security guarantees for Ukraine as a shield against future aggression.

Details are still in flux, but it's clear that European leaders see the issue as pivotal for the entire continent, not just Ukraine.

“When we speak about security guarantees, we speak about the whole security of the European continent,” President Macron said.

Prime Minister Starmer made a similar point.

“I think we could take a really important step forward today, a historic step actually, to come out of this meeting in terms of security for Ukraine and security in Europe,” he said.

The German chancellor said he would “like to see a ceasefire from the next meeting, which should be a trilateral meeting” with Ukraine, Russia, and the US.

Like his other European counterparts, Chancellor Merz had praise for President Trump for his role in the process of angling to work out an end to the war.

Mr Rutte told President Trump his willingness to participate in security guarantees marked a “breakthrough” and “makes all the difference.”

Von der Leyen called for working together on “a just and lasting peace,” while PM Meloni called the gathering “an important day and new phase.”

President Trump said in an Oval Office meeting with President Zelensky earlier that a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine was “unnecessary.” After an hour of closed-door meeting with EU leaders and President Zelensky, President Trump then told reporters in the East Room that “all of us would obviously prefer the immediate ceasefire while we work on a lasting peace.”

He added that he likes a ceasefire because it would “immediately stop the killing,” but reiterated that a peace agreement between the two countries is “very attainable” at this point in the war.

Sitting in the East Room, President Trump was jovial as he recognised all of the European leaders at the table.

He called Prime Minister Starmer “my friend” and said he liked President Macron “from day one.” He said Chancellor Merz was “very strong” and said, “I want to get a tan like that.” He praised Stubb's appearance, saying, “You look better than I've ever seen you look.”

President Trump is opening a group meeting with President Zelensky and leaders from Europe.

He's using a new phrase to say he wants to end the war. President Trump said the group wants to see “if we can get it finished” and “put this to sleep.”

The US president and his guests lined up in the White House in a show of solidarity for the cameras. President Macron was on his left, President Zelensky on his right.

While they were standing there, President Trump gestured toward a painting that depicts him pumping his fist after surviving an assassination attempt during last year's presidential campaign.

“That was not a good day. Not a great day. See the picture?”

Russia's deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky told UN reporters that “what everybody hopes” is that President Donald Trump's meetings with Ukraine's president and European leaders “will go in the same vein” as the US leader's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last Friday.

He said President Trump acknowledged that his meeting with President Putin opened “an opportunity for a long and lasting peace.”

“And we welcome very much such a scenario,” said Polyansky, who is Russia's current charge d'affaires at the United Nations.

“We hope that the Ukrainian leadership will, instead of thinking about saving their own skin, think about their people who don't want to fight and who are ready for peace -- fair, just and long-lasting peace,” he said. “That's what Russia is trying to achieve in Ukraine for many, many years.”

The leaders were holding closed-door talks after they made opening statements and answered questions from reporters who were admitted to the Oval Office to see them together.

A group photo of President Trump, President Zelensky, and the European leaders will follow before everyone meets in the East Room to discuss how to end Russia's war against Ukraine.

It was only a few months ago that President Trump and President Zelensky last met in the Oval Office, but Monday's face-to-face between the two leaders looked markedly different.

For much of their February exchange, during which President Trump and Vice President Vance blasted President Zelensky as “disrespectful” and warned about future American support, President Zelensky crossed his arms and looked askance at the US leaders. The presidents often spoke over each other, also gesturing disagreement.

Monday's meeting was rounded out with more smiles and pleasantries between the two leaders, as well as agreement on some points regarding the ongoing war. Both men largely sat with their hands clasped in their laps, affably fielding questions from reporters.

The big topic of the Oval Office meeting on Monday was what US security guarantees Ukraine needs to agree to a peace deal and whether President Trump would be willing to provide them. President Zelensky outlined what he said his country needed to feel secure, which included a “strong Ukrainian army” through weapons sales and training. The second part, he said, would depend on the outcome of Monday's talks and what EU countries, NATO, and the US would be able to guarantee to the war-torn country.

President Trump stopped short of committing US troops to the effort, saying instead that there would be a “NATO-like” security presence but that all those details would be hashed out in their afternoon meeting with EU leaders.

“They want to give protection, and they feel very strongly about it, and we'll help them out with that,” President Trump said. “I think it's very important to get the deal done.”

Unlike the last time he was in the Oval Office with President Zelensky, Vice President Vance made no comments during the public portion of Monday's meeting.

Seated on a couch with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President Vance sat by as President Trump and President Zelensky interacted and took questions from reporters.

During February's tense Oval Office meeting, Vice President Vance called President Zelensky “disrespectful” for airing disagreements with President Trump in public. President Zelensky grew defensive, and President Trump and his vice president blasted him as ungrateful, issuing stark warnings about future American support.

President Trump said the Russian leader is “expecting my call when we're finished with this meeting” with President Zelensky and the group of European leaders waiting at the White House.

President Trump and President Putin met in person on Friday in Alaska to discuss ending the war.

As President Zelensky answered a question about the difficulty of holding an election during Ukraine's war with Russia, Trump appeared to jokingly hypothesize how a similar circumstance could allow him to stay in power in the US past the expiration of his current term.

“So let me just say three and a half years from now — so you mean, if we happen to be in a war with somebody, no more elections, oh, I wonder what the fake news would say,” President Trump said.

President Zelensky noted the difficulties of being able to hold elections during wartime, saying that a “truce” would be needed to do so safely.

“We can do security,” President Zelensky said. “We need ... a truce, yes, everywhere — the battlefield, the sky, and the sea, to make it possible for people to do democratic open legal elections.”

President Zelensky wants security guarantees as part of any deal to end Russia's war against his country.

President Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, mentioned NATO-style security guarantees for Ukraine as he was being interviewed on Sunday talk shows.

It's on the meeting agenda.

“We're going to be discussing it today,” President Trump said. He said European leaders want to give Ukraine protection, and the US will participate.

Brian Glenn, a conservative reporter, told President Zelensky that “You look fabulous in that suit.” Glenn had asked the Ukrainian leader about his clothing during his last visit to the Oval Office, implying that his casual dress was disrespectful.

President Trump jumped in saying, “I said the same thing.” Turning to President Zelensky, President Trump said, “That's the one that attacked you last time.”

“I remember that,” President Zelensky said as laughter rippled through the room.

Speaking in the Oval Office, he noted it will be a discussion point with European leaders today.

Asked if he would rule out such a deployment, the president said, “We'll let you know that, maybe, later today. We're meeting with seven great leaders of great countries, also, and we'll be talking about that.”

“They'll all be involved,” he added. “When it comes to security, there's going to be a lot of help.”

President Zelensky's assent came after President Trump said the three leaders could be meeting if Monday's White House meetings go well.

“We are ready for trilateral,” he said.

Such a meeting would be held to negotiate an end to Russian war against Ukraine.

Asked by a reporter if it is the “end of the road” for US support for Ukraine if no deal is struck, President Trump said it's “never the end of the road.”

“People are being killed, and we want to stop that. So I would not say it's the end of the road,” President Trump said as President Zelensky sat next to him, shaking his head at the question. He added that there is a “good chance” of ending the war through these meetings.

“I know the president, I know myself, and I believe Vladimir Putin wants to see it end,” President Trump said.

In just a span of a few days and thousands of miles apart, President Trump has hosted the leaders of two nations embroiled in war.

At Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, dueling red carpets showed the way for both President Trump and President Putin to make their way to a platform emblazoned with “Alaska 2025,” where they briefly stood before taking President Trump's limousine to the meeting site. President Trump arrived at the junction point first, waiting on President Putin and greeting him warmly.

For President Zelensky's White House arrival on Monday, President Trump greeted the Ukrainian president at the threshold of the executive residence, after President Zelensky's motorcade wound its way up the driveway festooned with flags and lined with uniformed members of the US military. After a handshake and pleasantries, President Trump responded, “We love them,” as a reporter shouted a question about his message for Ukraine.

In both circumstances, President Trump was host to the foreign leaders, welcoming them to US soil.

President Trump said the meeting is “very important,” and Presiden Zelensky thanked President Trump for trying to end Russia's war against his country.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)