President Donald Trump is holding hastily arranged talks Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a host of European leaders — a rarity at the White House — as he seeks to negotiate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Most diplomats surveyed by CNN couldn’t remember another example of presidents and prime ministers ripping up their schedules to rush to Washington for emergency talks.
European officials said the last-minute decision to come to Washington reflected the urgency many leaders feel in aligning with Trump on ending the war — but also their concern that they not be sidelined.
Here are takeaways from the day so far.
Nailing down security guarantees
The US’ role in security guarantees for Ukraine is at the center of Monday’s talks. European leaders and Zelensky are eager to know what resources Trump will commit to ensuring, once a potential peace deal is reached, so that Russia isn’t able to regroup and go after more territory down the road.
In the Oval Office with Zelensky, Trump would not rule out sending US troops into Ukraine to maintain the peace — a significant development that could make it easier for Zelensky to agree to other aspects of a proposed deal.
Trump said the issue of “who will do what” would be discussed with other European leaders.
“President Putin agreed that Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine. And this is one of the key points that we need to consider, and we’re going to be considering that at the table,” he said. “I’m optimistic that, collectively, we can reach an agreement that would deter any future aggression against Ukraine, and I actually think there won’t be.”
Even though he said European nations would take the lead in any security guarantees, Trump’s apparent openness to allowing American troops — “There’s going to be a lot of help,” he said — is a new development.
Trump was elected in part on a promise to keep American troops out of foreign conflicts, and even some members of his own administration have advocated for a vastly reduced US role in the Ukraine war.
To be sure, he didn’t commit to anything in his remarks. But the fact he didn’t take the option off the table could signal a shift in approach as he seeks an end to the war.
Trump still a no on a ceasefire
Trump’s reversal on the imperative of an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine shocked European leaders and will color their talks Monday.
Heading into his summit last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump said he would be disappointed if the talks didn’t result in a ceasefire, and threatened “severe” consequences if one did not come to pass.
But leaving Alaska last week, Trump said he no longer thought a ceasefire was necessary, wanting to move on to negotiating a final peace deal. And he said he wasn’t thinking about additional sanctions, which he had long threatened against Russia.
The shift was a surprise to the Europeans, since they’d come to an agreement in a virtual meeting two days before Trump’s summit with Putin that a ceasefire would be the US president’s objective.
But sitting with the Europeans on Monday, Trump made clear he had changed his mind on what’s realistic.
“All of us would obviously prefer an immediate ceasefire while we work on a lasting peace,” he said. “As of this moment, it’s not happening.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz encouraged Trump to rethink.
“I can’t imagine the next meeting will take place without a ceasefire,” he said, referring to a potential meeting between Trump, Putin and Zelensky. “So let’s work on that.”
Trump shrugged off the idea.
“If we can get a ceasefire, great,’’ he said.
Still aiming for a trilateral meeting
One of Trump’s ultimate objectives is getting Zelensky and Putin into the same room, along with himself, to negotiate an end to the war.
He said Monday’s talks could go a long way toward securing such an encounter, and said he would speak afterward with Putin to see whether he was on board.
“We may or may not have a trilat. If we don’t have a trilat, then the fighting continues, and if we do, we have a good chance — I think if we have a trilat, there’s a good chance of maybe ending it,” Trump said.
Later, Trump said he was confident such an encounter would materialize.
“I think it’s going to be when, not if,” Trump said.
Yet Putin has been the holdout in such a meeting. And it wasn’t clear how Monday’s talks would spur him toward meeting the Ukrainian leader.
French President Emmanuel Macron, during his turn to speak, offered a different idea: having a European leader at the table as well.
“I think as a follow-up, we would need probably a quadrilateral meeting. Because when we speak about security guarantees, we speak about the whole security of the European continent,” he said.
It seems unlikely Trump will warm to that idea, at least in the near term, as he works toward ending the war.
But Macron’s point underscores how much is at stake not only for Ukraine in Monday’s talks, but also for the rest of Europe.
Lessons learned made a better atmosphere
The atmosphere inside the Oval Office for Zelensky’s meeting was far more collegial than the explosive fracas that played out in February, the last time the Ukrainian leader was in the room with Trump.
It was clear the Ukrainian side paid a lot of attention to ensuring the talks didn’t fall off the rails. Zelensky came with a letter from his wife for Melania Trump, and he praised the US first lady’s letter last week to Putin about children suffering during the war.
After Vice President JD Vance accused Zelensky of being ungrateful during the February meeting, the Ukrainian leader said the word “thanks” four times in the first 10 seconds of his short remarks Monday.
“Thank you for invitation, and thank you very much for your efforts, personal efforts, to stop killings and stop this war. Thank you for using this opportunity, many thanks to your wife,” he said.
And Zelensky wore a suit — apparently a concession to Trump’s displeasure at the military uniform he wore during the last meeting. His choice of attire made for a light-hearted moment.
Unlike in February, Trump’s delegation stayed silent for Monday’s meeting. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff were all on the sofa in the Oval Office for the meeting.