Trump-Zelensky meeting live: President works to arrange Russia-Ukraine meet

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was tight-lipped, except for a brief comment, about the closed-door meeting between President Donald Trump and several European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on Monday.

The group first met in front of the cameras in the East Room of the White House and then held a “leaders only” meeting in the Oval Office, according to reports.

When asked by CNN what was agreed to at the closed-door meeting, Starmer said, “Quite a lot.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and several other world leaders have left the White House after what Fox News host Bret Baier called a “marathon meeting.”

Baier announced that Zelensky would not be able to make his scheduled interview on “Special Report” Monday evening “after this marathon meeting at the White House.”

“They are flying out,” Baier said. “As all these leaders break up and the motorcades are pulling out of the White House currently.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was set to do an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier Monday evening, but bailed at the last minute after his meeting with President Donald Trump and several European leaders went on longer than anticipated.

“Just getting word that the Ukrainian president is not going to come here to ‘Special Report’ tonight after this marathon meeting at the White House. They are flying out,” Baier said.

It’s unclear if Russian President Vladimir Putin will agree to a meeting with President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Trump said he called Putin after he met with Zelensky and several other European leaders Monday and “began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined” between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.

But Yuri Ushakov, Kremlin foreign policy aide, merely said that during the call, Trump and Putin discussed “the idea that it would be advisable to explore the possibility of raising the level of representatives of the Ukrainian and Russian sides participating in the negotiations,” per The Washington Post.

Donald Trump met with Volodymyr Zelensky and a large group of European leaders who descended on the White House Monday to support Ukraine’s president, bracing for the possibility of another explosive series of meetings that could change the course of his country’s future.

Six months after a volatile Oval Office meeting, and just days after Trump met with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Zelensky was greeted warmly upon his return to the White House, where Trump promised a “reasonable” chance of ending Russia’s war with a commitment to U.S. involvement in a peacekeeping force in Ukraine as a shield against further aggression.

A band of top European leaders — including U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte — had rushed to the White House for meetings with Trump before Zelensky’s arrival, hoping to send a last-minute message to the president in Ukraine’s defense and to defend Europe’s interests after more than three years of Russia’s land war into the continent.

Trump, who has fashioned himself as a peacemaker while failing to control two wars in Gaza and Ukraine, has backed Putin’s proposal for Ukraine to cede territory it controls. Before Monday’s meting, he appeared to pressure Zelensky to agree to the autocrat’s demands, claiming Zelensky could end the war “almost immediately, if he wants to.”

Read more from Alex Woodward and Andrew Feinberg:

President Donald Trump said Monday evening he had a “very good meeting” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and several other European leaders.

He said he called Russian President Vladimir Putin after the meeting and “began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy.”

Read Trump’s full Truth Social post:

I had a very good meeting with distinguished guests, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, President Emmanuel Macron, of France, President Alexander Stubb, of Finland, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, of Italy, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, of the United Kingdom, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Friedrich Merz, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, in the White House, which ended in a further meeting in the Oval Office.

During the meeting we discussed Security Guarantees for Ukraine, which Guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America. Everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine.

At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy. After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself.

Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Peter Doocy said no world leaders have left the White House yet.

He said “a ton of motorcade vehicles” are still at the White House as President Donald Trump hosts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and several other European leaders to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war.

Serhiy Nykyforov, a spokesperson for Zelensky, said negotiations have continued in the Oval Office in a “leaders only format,” CNN reported Monday evening.

President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and several other European leaders on Friday.

Here are some photos from the gathering: