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Welcome
to our live coverage of the latest diplomatic efforts to find an end to the war
in Ukraine.
Vladimir
Putin has agreed to face-to-face talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to
Donald Trump and European leaders, although the Kremlin has yet to confirm a
meeting will take place.
After
talks at the White House with the leaders of Germany, Britain, France, Italy,
Finland, the European Union and Nato, the US president said he would coordinate
security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of a deal and claimed that
arrangements were under way for a Zelenskyy-Putin meeting. He said a trilateral
meeting would happen between the two, along with Trump, after that.
Finnish
president Alexander Stubb said the main agreement from the White House meeting
was that the killing had to end and that it remained to be seen if Putin had
the courage to meet Zelenskyy. “Putin is rarely to be trusted,” Stubb said.
The
Russian president has previously resisted a one-on-one meeting with Zelenskyy.
Ukraine’s president said it was ready to meet with Russia in “any format” and
that territorial issues are “something we will leave between me and Putin”.
Here are
some of the latest developments:
German
chancellor Friedrich Merz said Putin told Trump in a call during the White
House meeting that he was ready to meet Zelenskyy “within the next two weeks”.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin and Trump only discussed the “idea” of
direct Russia-Ukraine talks in Monday’s phone call.
Trump
told Zelenskyy the US would help guarantee Ukraine’s security in any deal to
end the war, though the extent of any assistance was not immediately clear. “I
believe this is a major step forward,” Zelenskyy said, also saying security
guarantees for Ukraine would probably be worked out within 10 days.
The US
president ruled out a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war during a meeting with
Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House, despite last week warning
Moscow of “very severe consequences” if Vladimir Putin didn’t agree to halt the
fighting. Trump said while sitting with the leaders on Monday: “All of us would
obviously prefer an immediate ceasefire while we work on a lasting peace. Maybe
something like that could happen. As of this moment, it’s not happening.”
Trump
described his meeting with Zelenskyy and the leaders of Britain, Germany,
France, Italy, Finland, the European Union and Nato as “a very good, early step
for a war that has been going on for almost four years”. He also said on social
media that vice-president JD Vance, secretary of state Marco Rubio and special
envoy Steve Witkoff were “coordinating with Russia and Ukraine”. “Everyone is
very happy about the possibility of peace for Russia/Ukraine,” Trump said.
French
president Emmanuel Macron called for stepping up sanctions against Russia if
Putin does not move forward on peace with Ukraine. Merz said Ukraine should not
be forced to surrender its Donbas region to Russia in talks, likening it to the
US giving up Florida.
Trump,
however, seemed clearly swayed by Putin from their talks in Alaska last Friday
and echoed the Russian president’s talking points, saying several times on
Monday that ending the war was “up to” both Zelenskyy and Putin – rather than
just Putin, who invaded Ukraine. Trump also said: “We also need to discuss the
possible exchanges of territory, taking into consideration the current line of
contact – that means the war zone.”
Ukraine
will promise to buy $90bn of US weapons financed by Europe as part of a deal to
get guarantees from the US for its security if there is a peace settlement with
Russia, Zelenskyy said. “There indeed is a package with our proposals worth
$90bn,” the Ukrainian president said. “And we have agreements with the US
president that when our export opens, they will buy Ukrainian drones. This is
important for us.”
In stark
contrast to the heated exchange during Zelenskyy’s first trip to Trump’s White
House in February, the Ukrainian president’s charm offensive this time around
looked to pay off, allowing him to emerge unscathed. Zelenskyy – who wore a
black military-style suit and presented a letter from his wife, Olena Zelenska,
for Melania Trump in response to her letter to Putin – said this meeting with
Trump was his “best” so far.
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