US President says he has begun arrangements for face-to-face meeting between Russian President Putin and his Ukraine counterpart

US President Donald Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday (local time) at the White House, discussing efforts to end the three-year Russia-Ukraine war through diplomatic means. Trump and Zelenskyy discussed the possibility of a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring an end to the conflict.

Trump on Putin-Zelenskyy’s face-to-face meeting

Soon after the lengthy talks with Zelenskyy,  Trump said he had begun arrangements for a face-to-face meeting between Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy to discuss a pathway to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to AP. “I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy,” Trump said on social media. “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,” he added.

It’s still uncertain if Putin has fully committed to peace talks with Ukraine; however, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, stated that both leaders supported continuing direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations and potentially elevating the level of these negotiations. Zelenskyy, on the other hand, emphasised that if Russia doesn’t show willingness to compromise, Ukraine will expect the US to take a firmer stance. He also expressed openness to a trilateral meeting while stressing the importance of European involvement in any negotiations. 

Zelenskyy-Trump on ending Russia-Ukraine conflict

Two separate meetings were held at the White House: first, between Trump and Zelenskyy, and then a second meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy, NATO and European leaders, and the presidents of five NATO nations, according to the US Department of Defence press release. The talks come on the heels of the Aug. 15, 2025, meeting in Alaska between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.The meeting involved Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky, PM Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Germany’s Friedrich Merz, Finland’s Alexander Stubb, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU Commission.

During the meeting, Trump expressed his desire to stop the killing of countless individuals in the war, saying, “People are being killed and we want to stop that”. He added that if talks go well, a trilateral meeting with Russia might be possible, which could lead to a reasonable chance of ending the war. Zelenskyy thanked Trump for his ‘personal’ efforts to stop the war in the region. He also presented Trump with a letter from the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, for the US First Lady, Melania Trump. “Thank you very much Mr President for your personal efforts to help solve this war. I also thank your wife, First Lady of the United States, she sent a letter to Putin to talk about our children and my wife has also sent a letter for your wife. I also thank all the partners, France, EU, Finland, UK, Germany for supporting us,” Zelenskyy said.

(With inputs from ANI)