President Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump held a meeting at the White House on Monday that was a far-cry from the shouting match which erupted in February.
The Ukrainian president was joined by senior European leaders for the meeting with Trump, which came days after the US president held a landmark summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
And despite positive sounds emerging from world leaders following Monday’s summit, there were few details provided by Washington about the US security guarantees that are crucial to a future peace deal.
Here are the key takeaways from Monday’s White House summit.
A Zelensky-Putin meeting may be the next step
It appears that we are closer than ever to witnessing Zelensky meet with the Russian leader in person for the first time since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Trump had already declared that he was arranging a time and a place for the meeting and had called Putin to discuss this. A bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelensky would be followed by a trilateral meeting involving the US president, Trump said.
“We are ready for a trilateral,” Zelensky declared on Monday. He has been pushing for such a meeting for months, but Moscow has repeatedly rejected the idea. Whether Trump has successfully convinced Putin to take part remains uncertain.
Trump pledges unspecified US security guarantees
Deterring future Russian aggression against Ukraine has been a central focus for Kyiv in its international diplomatic efforts.
While Trump has repeatedly ruled out Ukraine joining Nato, his envoy Steve Witkoff said that Putin had agreed to allow “Nato-style” protection for Ukraine after their meeting on Friday. Moscow has not commented on this.
On Monday, Trump did express vague support for security guarantees. European countries “want to give protection and they feel very strongly about it and we’ll help them out with that,” he said.
With Europeans looking to set up a force that could backstop any peace agreement in Ukraine, Trump suggested that Putin would be open to accepting security guarantees.
French president Emmanuel Macron said that talks to determine what the US is willing to provide will start as soon as Tuesday.
European leaders praise Trump – but push for temporary ceasefire
European leaders who attended the White House summit were all careful to heap praise on Trump ahead of, during and after the meeting.
But they did raise their desire for a temporary ceasefire to allow for thorough peace negotiations to follow – something which Trump initially supported but appears to have de-prioritised in favour of a long-term peace plan desired by Putin.
“If we play this well, we could end it,” said Nato secretary general Mark Rutte, who later called Trump “amazing” on Fox News and said potential swaps of Ukrainian territory weren’t discussed.
British prime minister Keir Starmer said after the meeting that there was “real progress” and a “real sense of unity.”
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said “the path is open now” to halting the fighting but that the next steps are “more complicated”. Calling for a ceasefire, he added: “Let’s try to put pressure on Russia.”
“If we can do the ceasefire, great,” Trump said, but followed up by suggesting it was far from a dealbreaker.
The good feelings extended to Mr Zelensky and Trump. After Ukraine’s leader praised the “very good conversation” with Trump, the US president responded, “Great remarks. I appreciated it.”
Formal clothes and a war reception for Zelensky
Zelensky turned up in more formal clothing than his February visit – when his choice of outfit offended Trump and vice president JD Vance.
“You look fabulous,” Trump said after a conservative reporter, who criticised Zelensky in February, praised his clothing.
Zelensky also repeatedly thanked Melania Trump for her support and for sending a letter to Putin that called on him to take action to halt the killing of children during the war.
During a warm Oval Office meeting full of smiles with Trump, the Ukrainian president presented his US counterpart with a letter from his wife, Olena Zelenska, for Melania.
