Trump moved to broker direct talks between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday, calling the Russian leader from the White House after a day of meetings with the Ukrainian president and several European leaders. He said the call was meant to “begin the arrangements” for a Putin–Zelenskyy meeting at a yet-to-be-determined location, to be followed by a three-way session that would include the United States.
“After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, calling the step “a very good, early” move toward ending a war now in its fourth year.
Yury Ushakov, a senior aide to Putin, said the leaders spoke for about 40 minutes and described the exchange as “candid and very constructive,” according to CNN. Ushakov said Putin expressed support for direct Russia–Ukraine negotiations. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz separately told reporters that, based on the call, Putin agreed to meet Zelenskyy in two weeks.
The outreach came on the heels of Friday’s Alaska summit between Trump and Putin, which produced no ceasefire but, according to U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, yielded movement on possible “Article 5-like” security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a broader settlement. On Monday, Trump hosted Zelenskyy alongside European leaders in Washington to align on next steps and potential contours of a peace framework.
Zelenskyy called the White House talks “long and detailed,” saying they covered the battlefield situation, the return of deported Ukrainian children, and the release of prisoners of war and civilian detainees. He welcomed what he called an “important signal” of U.S. readiness to back security guarantees and said a leaders’ meeting “is necessary to resolve sensitive issues.”
Trump, speaking privately to French President Emmanuel Macron before the meetings, suggested he believes Putin “wants to make a deal,” according to a remark overheard by reporters. The White House did not respond to a request for comment late Monday.
