Zelenskyy Outlines Terms For Peace With Russia During White House Visit
on Aug 18, 2025
Trump Eyes Trilateral Peace Talks Between Ukraine, Russia, And United States
“I’ve ended six wars, and I thought this, maybe, would be the easiest one,” President Donald Trump said of his efforts to mediate an end to the Russo-Ukrainian War. “It’s not the easiest one. It’s a tough one.”
This was said during a bilateral meeting at the White House on Monday, August 18, between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — a meeting which notably saw the Ukrainian president wear a suit.
Arranged at a breakneck pace following Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, this meeting with Zelenskyy and many European leaders shed light on some of the unanswered questions regarding trump and Putin’s agreements regarding a conclusion to the end of the war.
No specifics were shared by Trump or Putin at the Alaska Summit, but both leaders agreed that ending the war in Ukraine was beneficial to all parties, with Trump stating earlier, “Let’s do the most productive [meeting] now. We’re gonna stop, really … thousands of people a week from being killed, and President Putin wants to see that as much as I do.”
Related: “There’s No Deal Until There’s A Deal,” Says Trump Following Talks With Putin On Ending Ukraine War
Trump and Zelenskyy’s Bilateral Meeting
During the bilateral meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president said that earlier in the day, a child was among the dead in an attack by Russia, expounding, “We need to stop this war to stop Russia, and we need support from American and European [leaders].”
Trump stated, “If there’s peace, it’s going to stay longterm. This is very longterm. We’re not talking about a two-year peace and then we end up in this mess again. We’re going to make sure everything’s good. We’ll work with Russia, we’ll work with Ukraine — we’re gonna make sure it works.”
Later on, Trump said, “The war is going to end. When it ends, I can’t tell you, but the war is going to end. [Zelenskyy] wants it to end, and Vladimir Putin wants it to end. I think the whole world is tired of it.”
Watch the bilateral meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy, here:
The Multilateral Meeting With European Leaders
From out of the bilateral meeting, Zelenskyy and Trump then joined several European leaders for further discussion.
Among those who were present were European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
With the understanding that the decision to end the war had to be made by Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine, as well as Putin and the Russian people, the multilateral meeting sought to find a path toward peace.
Among the requests Zelenskyy presented to Trump and the European leaders, he listed:
- Security guarantees;
- A release of all Ukrainian prisoners held in Russia;
- Return abducted Ukrainian children from Russia; and
- The facilitating of trilateral negotiations with Russia on territorial disputes from the war.
Regarding the abduction of children from Ukraine, as well as the children who have been killed in combat, First Lady Melania Trump wrote a letter to Putin, which Trump shared on Truth Social on August 15.
Read the letter below:
Trump has said he will now arrange for a trilateral meeting between the United States and the warring nations of Russia and Ukraine. A date has not yet been set.
Watch the multilateral meeting, here:
