Trump, Zelensky, European leaders weigh security guarantees, land swaps in crucial talks

US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and several top European leaders are meeting at the White House to discuss a possible end to the war in Ukraine.

The multilateral meeting began this afternoon a few minutes ahead of schedule.

Earlier, Trump held a separate meeting with Zelensky and a press conference that offered few details.

Zelensky said Ukraine wanted security guarantees before entering any deal with Russia.

“It’s a lot about weapon and people and training missions and intelligence,” the Ukrainian leader said when asked what kind of security guarantees he wanted.

“And second, we will discuss with our partners. It depends on the big countries, on the United States, on a lot of our friends,” he added, a possible hint at the prospect of joining NATO—a major idea Russia has kicked against.

Trump said he hoped a “lasting peace” between Ukraine and Russia can be reached “immediately”, noting that he would call Russian President Vladimir Putin after Monday’s meeting with European leaders.

The US president added that a trilateral discussion between him, Zelensky and Putin would be set up subsequently if “all goes well”.

Trump and Putin met on Friday in a historic summit.

Though both leaders failed to secure a deal, they noted that “great progress” was made.

One of the key topics on today’s agenda would be security guarantees for Ukraine.

The US president said the leaders would discuss “who will do what” and signalled a resolution would be reached.

He also said the European leaders would need to discuss “possible exchanges of territory” to end the war.

French President Emmanuel Macron mulled the idea of a European leader present at the trilateral meeting with Putin.

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

Friedrich Merz, German chancellor, said European leaders are eager to see a ceasefire before more talks are held. But Trump has long favoured a permanent peace deal over a ceasefire.

Though the meeting has ended, Serhiy Nykyforov, Zelensky’s spokesperson, said the leaders are staying in the White House to continue negotiations.