U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that Washington could seek to negotiate an end to the Ukrainian crisis without requiring a cease-fire to pause the fighting, as he welcomed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House for high-stakes talks on a possible peace deal with Russia.
"I don't think you need a cease-fire," Trump said.
"I know that it might be good to have, but I can also understand strategically why one country or the other wouldn't want it. You have a cease-fire and they rebuild and rebuild and rebuild and you know maybe they don't want that."
Zelenskyy and Trump expressed hope that Monday's critical talks with Ukrainian and European leaders at the White House could lead to trilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring an end to Russia's war on Ukraine.
"If everything works out today, we'll have a trilat," Trump said, referring to possible three-way talks among Zelenskyy, Putin and Trump. "We're going to work with Russia, we're going to work with Ukraine."
Trump also said he plans to talk to Putin after his meetings with Zelenskyy and European leaders.
Zelenskyy also expressed openness to trilateral talks.
"We are ready for trilateral as president said," Zelenskyy said at the start of his meeting with Trump. "It's a good signal about trilateral. I think this is very good."
Trump is first holding one-on-one talks with Zelenskyy. The two are then scheduled to gather with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Trump said that he and Zelenskyy would be discussing potential security guarantees for Ukraine with the European leaders.
"They want to give protection," Trump said of European allies. "They feel very strongly about it and we'll help them out with it. I think it's very important."
Trump also said he would back European security guarantees for Ukraine as he met with Zelenskyy and the leaders of France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Finland, as well as the president of the European Commission and the head of NATO.
Trump stopped short of committing U.S. troops to a collective effort to bolster Ukraine's security. He said instead that there would be a "NATO-like" security presence and that all those details would be hashed out with EU leaders.
"They want to give protection and they feel very strongly about it and we'll help them out with that," Trump said. "I think its very important to get the deal done."
Trump at one point needled Zelenskyy over Ukraine delaying elections. They had been scheduled for last year but were delayed because of the ongoing Russian invasion. Ukrainian law does not allow presidential elections to be held when martial law is in effect.
Trump joked that a similar circumstance wouldn't play well in the U.S.
Zelenskyy faced criticism during his February meeting from a conservative journalist for appearing in the Oval Office in a long sleeve T-shirt. This time he appeared in dark jacket and buttoned-shirt.
Zelenskyy has said his typically less formal attire since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022 is to show solidarity with Ukrainian soldiers.
Monday's hastily assembled meeting came after Trump met in Alaska on Friday with Putin. After that meeting, Trump said the onus is now on Zelenskyy to agree to concessions of land that he said could end the war.
The meeting was starkly different in tone from their previous Oval Office encounter in February, which ended when Trump and Vance publicly upbraided Zelenskiy as not being grateful enough.
This time, the meeting appeared far more convivial, despite the U.S. president's movement toward Russia in recent days. Zelenskiy struck a deferential tone, giving thanks at least eight times during his opening remarks to the media.
