UPDATE: During remarks from the Oval Office, President Trump confirmed the United States will provide some kind of security guarantee for Ukraine as part of a peace deal.
"We're meeting with seven great people, great countries also, and we'll be talking about that. They'll all be involved, but there'll be a lot of there'll be a lot of help when it comes to security. There's going to be a lot of help. It's going to be good. They are first line of defense because they're there, they're Europe, but we're going to help them out,” Trump said.
NOW—@pdoocy asks Zelenskyy if he is prepared to continue to fight or be willing to redraw maps.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 18, 2025
Zelenskyy: "We need to stop this war, to stop Russia...We support the idea of @POTUS to stop this war, to make diplomatic way of finishing this war..We are ready for trilateral talks" pic.twitter.com/omIgiA9tDS
***Original story***
After getting kicked out of the Oval Office in February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived at the White House Monday afternoon for a meeting with President Donald Trump and a number of European leaders.
President Donald J. Trump welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House 🇺🇸🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/tqbdBCZyg2
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 18, 2025
"I’ve settled 6 Wars in 6 months, one of them a possible Nuclear disaster, and yet I have to read & listen to the Wall Street Journal, and many other who truly don’t have a clue, tell me everything that I am doing wrong on the Russia/Ukraine MESS, that is Sleepy Joe Biden’s war, not mine. I’m only here to stop it, not to prosecute it any further. It would have NEVER happened if I was President. I know exactly what I’m doing, and I don’t need the advice of people who have been working on all of these conflicts for years, and were never able to do a thing to stop them," Trump said on Truth Social ahead of the discussions. "They are 'STUPID' people, with no common sense, intelligence, or understanding, and they only make the current R/U disaster more difficult to FIX. Despite all of my lightweight and very jealous critics, I’ll get it done — I always do!!!"
In the lead up to the White House, Zelensky met with Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg at a hotel nearby.
"I thank General Kellogg for the meeting and for the joint work with our team. President Trump invited Ukraine and other European countries to Washington today – this is the first meeting in such a format, and it is very serious. When peace is discussed for one country in Europe, it means peace for all of Europe," Zelensky said. "We are ready to continue working with maximum effort to end the war and to ensure reliable security. These are the key issues. Last night, Russian attacks on our cities continued – among those killed were two children, and dozens of people were wounded. People were simply sleeping when the Russian army launched strikes on the cities."
"We discussed the battlefield situation and our strong diplomatic capabilities – Ukraine’s and all of Europe’s together with America. Russia can only be forced into peace through strength, and President Trump has that strength. We have to do everything right to make peace happen. Thank you!" he continued.
I thank @GeneralKellogg for the meeting and for the joint work with our team. President Trump invited Ukraine and other European countries to Washington today – this is the first meeting in such a format, and it is very serious.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 18, 2025
When peace is discussed for one country in Europe,… pic.twitter.com/ZMZaIzAghD
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, French President Emmanuel Macron, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von de Leyen are also in attendance. President Trump will call Russian President Putin at the conclusion of the meetings.
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